

































































V> ° 

^ * i * * 4 ^ o 6 * * -» <£* 

c° ,'W??^,'. °o ,-r ♦•<g§ic«-. c°,. 

° J. 0 'V «5 ”- 

• .o *y a. • 



• > ^ 

■ >* A* - 

• <§> A * 

J' V * 



♦ # %■ • 




*r* " * <V °^u 

> V 4* # -% c* 

• v& ^ 

*, w 

* ^'V “o 

4 a v d>< » _ 

.» \*1 ». * 

G v *Vv?7£»> v o vfc^ 

' ’: *s>v* • 

i »° 'V ■. 


* VV** «Cr ^ *<> • * * 

$ **** * Qr • *• 1 • * 



# tpv 

'. ^ 0 < ; 

: «* °-<- * 

* o.r cv , __ 

- V"°>° .•••/% 

° **A V .'S0M§.% 



' ^ * 



* A V » 

**° / i 

o ^ ,pA \lVyr r « A ~V 4 . ”3 

a -t> *•*•* A 0 *• <’• 




^ o'* .' 



' 

V < V*.T.' 

* ^ V* 

4 ^ * 



* A* ** * 

4 V V* » 



► ** ^ ^ •/77**\t6' 


* > ^ ^ 


a*'♦„'% 

.V o' 


A* 



^ , *> . „ „, 
ft* * ^ 4 

. v O, "o , » « A 

r 0^ t * V ' 9 •* V A?* c*V* 

W. Tx c ° if* ' 

< *o« •alii?'* '"b v 5 - .« 

O iP V\ 



^ ^ o .. 

••# ^ V • •V!'* o. 




• o 



° * 


*. 

° 



r\ 

o 0 ^ * .~w* - , 

*0 ^5* * « ' 

. . A v f 1 1 1> » ^ 

£ .W/u*. 

<e7 * 



r.«V V'^* <v Vw 

c° /1 /k^ * o ^ *_ r.° - 

o' . 

^°\ ’* 




* » *a 


,. °* '♦ ^ *•;-.,•■ y -o*. 

M/<* c> ,Q» * « * o, v> \> 4 »V*-. C* 

'• Va* :'Jitk\ \#+ :Sbk\ 



^ V 


• V 






4 V 6 

i"tv * 




f0 * sjmz?* 0 * ^ ••*■-** 
*. ^ C .‘MU*’- «fe / «■ 

.* *° ^ v 

* «x 1 ' <• • #: n *s2a-' * A 


A°* 




^V*-' v ° '*.»„’' A o v V**.,,' 

» o„ A • C* aO V ••*•# 

s <9i. : °j‘V’ • «¥i l i. W 

* “mil?; ^ v -%. A'O, 

,7 4-Ci. a T</l[a\>r* ,^V 




* 

0^ ♦ 4 * * ♦ & ® * ® *» o ? »« 1 ' * * 

C *Vw7^ 9 . ° c ♦ 



4 ^4^ * ‘ 

* »To 0 a0 


. 


^ .'*&&*?* * 




4> *; 


A v # - *, ^ 


^ A 1 











CHRONOLOGICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, 
HISTORICAL, AND MISCELLANEOUS 

EXERCISES, 

0n a jSTi’h) ^lan: 

DESIGNED FOR THE DAILY USE OF YOUNG LADIES. 


By the late WILLIAM BUTLER, 


AUTHOR OF ARITHMETICAL QUESTIONS ; EXERCISES ON THE 
GLOBES; MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS ON ENGLISH HIS¬ 
TORY ; AND GEOGRAPHICAL EXERCISES ON 
THE NEW TESTAMENT. 


NINTH EDITION, ENLARGED, BY HIS SON-IN-LAW, 

THOMAS BOURN, 

' * 

TEACHER OF WRITING, ARITHMETIC, AND GEOGRAPHY, 

IN LADIES’ SCHOOLS. 

-‘ •* ' > 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR; 

AND SOLD BY 

SAMUEL LEIGH 18 , STRAND; J. HARRIS, ST. PAUL’S CHURCHYARD; 
HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH STREET; AND SIMPKIN 
AND MARSHALL, STATIONERS’ COURT. 


1830 , 















PRINTED BY G. SMALLFIELD, 


HACKNEY. 



PREFACE. 


While Chronology (which fixes the dates of the various 
events recorded in History, and arranges them according 
to the several divisions of time, in the order in which they 
happened) derives its principal light from History, it also, 
in return, serves History as an accurate and a faithful 
guide.* To read history with much pleasure, and yet be 
without some knowledge of Chronology, is impossible. To 
be able to ascertain when an event happened, is that which 
alone, in many cases, stamps importance on the fact itself. 

The present volume is partly Biographical. To the 
admiration and gratitude of the rising generation are held 
up the names of several of our heroes, who, at sea or by 
land, have triumphed over the enemies of their native 
isle ;-j* of statesmen, whose wisdom maintained harmony 
in all the orders of the community ; of patriots, who were 
prodigal of their blood in the cause of their country;+ of 
philanthropists, whose labours have been successfully ex- 

* Chronology and Geography are the eyes of History. The 
former informs when a fact happened, the latter where . 

Chesterfield’s Letters. 

f ■-“ Hence Youth will be 

Induced to act their fathers o’er again ; 

Fir’d, when they hear how Agincourt was strow’d 
' With Gallic corps, and Cressy swam in blood.” 

♦ See Virgil’s yEn. vi. 600. 

A 2 







IV 


PREFACE. 


erted for the benefit of mankind; of martyrs, who have 
expired in the flames, when attesting the constancy of their 
resolution and sincerity of their faith; of divines and lay¬ 
men, whose writings have allured to brighter worlds, 
while their unblemished lives and pious deaths pointed out 
the way ; * and of authors, and men of genius of every 
description, who have extended the bounds of useful know¬ 
ledge, and augmented the stock of public happiness. Nor 
are altogether forgotten those who, on the stage, endowed 
with varied powers of imitation, have soothed the cares 
of life by the fleeting effusions of mimic gaiety ; those 
who, in the creation of works of art, have been distin¬ 
guished by industry and success; or those who, in the 
wide region of poetry, have charmed by their harmonious 
numbers and novel thoughts, by the felicity of their com¬ 
binations and the sublimity of their images. Having thus, 
though in a very limited degree, brought before my young 
friends some of the most illustrious characters of ancient 
and modern times, it is hoped that these eminent exam¬ 
ples will have a tendency to form their sentiments, or 
to fire their emulation. The few opposite characters that 
have been introduced into this miscellany, will, it is hoped, 
inspire the juvenile reader with a just abhorrence of those 
follies and vices which have led to disgrace and ruin. 
Thus may Biography answer the most valuable purpose 
in education, as it communicates what comes home to 
ourselves, and what we can actually turn to advantage. 
In this point of view, Biography is, to persons in private 
stations, certainly of more use than History. This part of 


* Saints, who taught and led the way to heaven. 

TlC KELL. 



PREFACE. 


V 


the work, it is admitted, is occasionally rather calculated 
to excite, than completely to gratify, curiosity; a cir¬ 
cumstance which, however, is less to be regretted, as many 
of the articles thus abbreviated may be found in an en¬ 
larged state in Biographical Dictionaries.* 

As the Sacred Scripture, especially the New Testament, 
has our consolation and support in all the varying scenes 
of this transitory pilgrimage for its great design and aim, 
and our resurrection from the state of death, and happiness 
to all eternity, for its ultimate and most glorious object;— 
and as, in proportion to the degree of veneration in which 
its contents are held, the interests of virtue and holiness 
flourish, and the mind is formed to rational devotion, 
diffusive benevolence, steady fortitude, and, in short, 
“ made ready for every good word and work—it is 
reasonable to imagine, that whatever tends to direct the 
attention of the rising generation to the records of that 

I 

Divine Book, must be of great importance to their present 
and future happiness. It is hoped, therefore, that the 
Scripture Biography will be found a valuable portion of 
the work; more especially if care be taken to make the 
pupil thoroughly acquainted with the numerous passages of 
Holy Writ which are referred to in this and in other parts 
of the book. 

In the Historical part of the publication, such facts have 
usually been selected as^ have a connexion, either indirect or 
immediate, with the affairs of our own country ; and that 

* The Biographical work frequently consulted in these Exer¬ 
cises, is Jones’s “ New Biographical Dictionary an elegant 
and comprehensive pocket volume. 




VI 


PREFACE. 


every well-educated female should be conversant with 

•r 

them, is a principle in modern education which is univer¬ 
sally admitted. It is observed by Rollin, in his piece on 
Education, that no study is more proper ,to adorn the 
minds of Young Ladies than History. This pleasing 
department of literature, he adds, opens a vast field, in 
which they may be employed to great advantage, and 
with the utmost satisfaction to themselves, during several 
years. 

Though among those articles which may be termed 
Miscellaneous, there are, doubtless, some of inferior im¬ 
portance ; yet it is presumed, that even the least valuable, 
under the direction of a judicious instructor, will furnish 
young readers with ideas, upon which they may reflect 
when alone, or converse when in company. And though 
many of the subjects discussed in this volume may be 
familiar to the majority of adult readers, they will, to 
those for whom it is chiefly designed, be in general new. 

As the names of the days of the week, and months of 
the year, are not explained in any mere school-book, the 
account of their origin will, perhaps, be deemed a not 
uninteresting part of the performance. 

Since there is a necessary connexion between memora¬ 
ble achievements, and the scenes or situations where they 
were performed, the latter have commonly been pointed out 
with exactness. For a similar reason, the birth-places of 
eminent individuals are noticed. This mode of uniting 

to 

them has also a further advantage: by the law of the 
association of ideas, when either is mentioned, the other 


PREFACE. 


Vll 


will naturally suggest itself to the recollection. To find 
these places on a map will be a pleasing, as well as an 
improving exercise for the scholar.* Who would not 
wish to know the spot which has acquired eminence by- 
having given birth to a Shakspeare, or a Milton, to a New¬ 
ton, a Locke, or a Howard ; and, with an almost super¬ 
stitious reverence, 

“-to kiss with sacred joy the earth, 

That gave a Hampden or a Russell birth” ? 

It is evident from daily experience, says an elegant writer, 
that the manners of the stronger sex receive their polish 
from the common intercourse of female society. It cannot, 
therefore, but follow, that the friendship of women of 
superior character and accomplishments must have the 
same effect upon the minds of men, and proportionably 
improve and adorn them. Hence it becomes the indis¬ 
pensable duty of those who are concerned in directing 
female education, if they are really well-wishers to the 
amelioration of their species, not only to see that their 
pupils acquire such a general knowledge as will fill up 
their time innocently and usefully, when they have con¬ 
cluded the course of school-education ; but to impart to 
them a taste above fantastic levities; to render them agree¬ 
able acquaintance, amiable friends, and domestic charac¬ 
ters ; to enable them to give a zest to 

“ The circling pleasures of the evening fire, 

Where friendship meets and love connubial smiles;” 

in a word, to make them good daughters, good wives, and 
good mothers. 


* See the Preface to the late author’s Arithmetical Questions. 





Vlll 


PREFACE. 


But as I have already, in the prefaces to my Arithmetical 
Questions and Exercises on the Globes , explained at con¬ 
siderable length my ideas of the benefits which may be 
expected hereafter to result to society from the influence 
of well-educated females, it will be here sufficient for me 
to express my entire conviction, that if the present world 
is ever to become the terrestrial paradise which some mo¬ 
dern philosophers predict, the grand instruments of refor¬ 
mation will be women. 

As this work is chiefly designed to be a medium of 
instruction in Ladies’ Schools, it may, perhaps, without 
impropriety, be suggested what appears to its Author the 
best mode of using it. Every day the pupil should be 
required to recite the chief particulars of the event or events 
which are registered as having occurred on that day. 
When there is an extensive school-library, such scholars 
as are capable should apply to books which treat more fully 
on the subject. Of the events they should furnish a more 
ample account; and, besides pointing out the places in an 
Atlas, briefly describe them by means of a well-selected 
Gazetteer. The words in the Index might also be advan¬ 
tageously given as a school-task ; and the number of words 
so allotted be proportioned to the age of the pupils and 
the rank of their class. At stated periods, perhaps once a 
week, a repetition might be profitably made. That this 
volume may be employed daily , and without intermission , 
is the great and novel advantage to which it presumes to 
lay claim ; and thus in the course of a single year, under 
a preceptor of zeal and judgment, it is not perhaps too 
much to assert, that a vast accession of interesting and im¬ 
portant knowledge might be communicated and acquired. 


PREFACE. 


IX 


In a compilation—as the present, in a great measure, 
confessedly is, and from its nature indeed must be—the 
style will naturally be various; because, though it has 
sometimes sustained alteration, the several authors who 
supplied the materials are more frequently left to speak 
for themselves. Should, however, invidious disingenuity 
affect to extend the charge of transcription, from a con¬ 
siderable part, to the whole of the undertaking, the Author 
will readily console himself with Rollin’s rational reflec¬ 
tion ; “ Que n’importe d’ou il soit, pourvu qu’il se trouve 
utile”—If the things themselves be good, it is not material 
whose they are. 


WILLIAM BUTLER. 


EDITOR’S PREFACE. 


The additions which were made to the last edition ot 
the Chronological Exercises having met with the 
approbation of the public, the Editor has been induced to 
render the present edition still more acceptable, by adding 
much important historical, biographical, and miscellaneous 
information. 

Whether the additions have been made with that 
judicious discrimination Which his late father-in-law 
evinced in his selection of appropriate subjects to excite 
attention and gratify curiosity, the Editor humbly submits 
to the candid judgment of the public. 

The Editor has not to lament the loss of this judicious 
friend before he had appreciated his worth or profited from 
his experience, but feels a grateful recollection that by 
following his advice, and by imitating his example, in 
addition to the precepts received in early life from his own 
affectionate parents, he has maintained an honourable 
character, and his success has been commensurate with his 
expectations. 

Grateful for the late Mr. Butler’s kindness, and con¬ 
scious of the pleasure it would afford his sensitive heart 
to observe any co-operation in his plans for the benefit 
of the young, the Editor compiled a Gazetteer, and, as a 



XI 


editor’s preface. 

small tribute of respect, dedicated the first edition, in 1807, 
to this revered father-in-law. This he frequently men¬ 
tioned as being the most gratifying offering he had ever 
received, and requested that in every succeeding edition 
it might be continued, as a memorial of the mutual esteem 
which subsisted between himself and the Editor, and of 
that filial attention with which he had been invariably 
solaced and cheered. 

The Editor has expressed, at October 12, page 419, his 
opinion of this friend, of whose virtues he shall never cease 
to think but with affection, and whose loss he ever shall 
deplore with unfeigned concern, consoling himself, how¬ 
ever, with the consciousness of having, while he was living , 
deserved his esteem by actively and zealously assisting him 
for more than 30 years in his arduous duties. 

Rather let him whose proffer’d love would claim 
The festive honours of fair friendship’s name, 

While life remains , each kind attention show, 

And, ere too late, what friendship asks, bestow. 

Though this work is principally intended for youth, and 
as an incitement to the perusal of more copious and me¬ 
thodical, historical, and biographical performances, yet it 
is presumed that the veteran in literature may be most use¬ 
fully reminded of much former knowledge, and led into 
many new trains of thought, and that the judicious teacher 
may impart every day a considerable portion of instruction, 
by communicating some additional information connected 
with the event of the day. 


T. BOURN. 


ERRATA. 


Page 15, line 36, for Pantalogia read “ Pantologia.” 
67, Feb. 22, for 1721 read “ 1371.” 

315, line 1, for pemanship read “penmanship.” 
492, line 16, for January read “ February.” 


INTRODUCTION. 


Chronology* treats of time, the method of measuring 
its parts, and adapting these, when distinguished by proper 
marks and characters, to past transactions, for the illustra¬ 
tion of history. This science, therefore, consists of two 
parts. The first treats of the proper measurement of time, 
and the adjustment of its several divisions; the second, of 
fixing the dates of the various events recorded in history, 
and ranging them according to the several divisions of time, 
in the order in which they happened. 


OF TIME. 


Time is a succession of phenomena in the universe, or a 
mode of duration marked by certain periods or measures, 
chiefly by the motion and revolution of the sun. The 
general idea which time gives in every thing to which it is 
applied, is that of limited duration. 



Time’s like a fashionable host, 

That slightly shakes his parting guest by th’ hand. 

Shakspeare. 


Time, applied 

To motion, measures all things durable 

By present, past, and future. Milton. 

The parts into which time is distinguished are, seconds 
or moments, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, 
and years. 

A Moment (sixty of which make a minute) is an indi¬ 
visible particle of time. 

While I a moment name, a moment’s past; 

I’m nearer death in this verse than the last; 

What then is to be done ? Be wise with speed; 

A fool at forty is a fool iudeed. 

Young. 


* Chronology is derived from two Greek words: %povo$, time; 
and \oyo$ f a discourse: i.e. a treatise on time. 

B 




2 


INTRODUCTION. 



Moments seize; 

Heav’n’s on their wing; a moment we may wish. 

When worlds want wealth to buy. 

Young. 


A Minute is the 60th part of an hour. 



See the minutes how they run! 

How many make the hour full complete! 

Shakspeare. 


It also means any small space of time. 

Gods! that the world should turn 
On minutes and on moments. Denham. 


An Hour is the 24th part of a natural day, or the space 
of sixty minutes. 



How many hours bring about the day ? 
How many days will finish up the year? 


Shakspeare. 


A Day is either natural or artificial. A natural day is 
the time from noon to noon, or from midnight to midnight; 
.365 of these make a year. An artificial day is the time 
between the rising and setting of the sun. 



Of night impatient, we demand the day ; 

The day arrives, then for the night we pray: 

The night and day successive come and go 
Our lasting pains no interruption know. 

Blackmore. 


The artificial days are always unequal to all persons that 
are not situated under the equator, except when the sun is 
in the equinoctial points Aries and Libra, which happens, 
according to our way of reckoning, about the 21st of March 
and the 23d of September; at those times the sun rises at 
six and sets at six *o all the inhabitants of the earth. These 
days are therefore called the Equinoxes, or Equinoc¬ 
tial Days ; the first of which is called the Vernal 
Equinox, and the latter is denominated the Autumnal 
Equinox. 

A Week is a division of time comprising seven days. 
The origin of this divison of weeks, or of computing time 
by sevenths, is greatly controverted. Some will have it to 
take its rise from the four quarters or intervals of the moon, 
between her changes of phases, which, being about seven 
days distant, gave occasion to the division. Be this as it 
may, the division is certainly very ancient. The Syrians, 
Egyptians, and most of the oriental nations, appear to have 
used it from all antiquity; though it did not get footing in 


INTRODUCTION. 


3 


the West till Christianity brought it in: the Romans reck¬ 
oned their days, not by sevenths, but by ninths; and the 
ancient Greeks by decads, or tenths, a mode of calculation 
recently adopted by the French, but soon relinquished. 

The Jews divided their time by weeks, but it was upon a 
different principle from the other Eastern nations: God 
himself having appointed them to work six,days, and to 
rest the seventh, in order to keep up the sense and remem¬ 
brance of the creation; which being effected in six days, he 
rested the seventh. 

Some authors suppose that the use of weeks among the 
other Eastern nations proceeded from the Jews; others 
maintain, that the septenary division of days among the 
Heathens of the East, was a remain of the tradition of the 
creation; and others again imagine it to have been derived 
from the Egyptians. 

The days of the week were denominated by the Jews 
from the order of their succession from the Sabbath. Thus, 
the next day after the Sabbath, they called the first of the 
Sabbath; the next, the second of the Sabbath; and so of 
the rest, except the sixth, which they call parascere , or 
preparation of the Sabbath. 

The like method is still kept up by the Christian Arabs, 
Persians, Ethiopians, &c. The ancient Heathens deno¬ 
minated the days of the week from the seven planets; 
which names are still generally retained among the Chris¬ 
tians of the West. 

Sunday, from sun and day, was thus denominated by 
our idolatrous ancestors, because set apart for the worship 
of the sun. It is now more properly called the Lord’s-day, 
because kept as a feast in memory of our Lord’s resurrec¬ 
tion on this day (see April 5, 33); and Sabbath-day, be¬ 
cause substituted under the new law in the place of the 
Sabbath in the old law. Sabbath is a Hebrew word, signi¬ 
fying cessation or rest.* It was the seventh day of the 
week, held as a feast among the Jews, in memory of God’s 
resting on the seventhf day of the creation. It was ap- 


* Silent Sabbath of the grave. Charlotte Smith. 

Peaceful sleep out the Sabbath of the tomb, 

And wake to Raptures in a life to come. Pope. 

f It is very remarkable, that the Heathen nations, who can be 
supposed to have had no knowledge of the law or history of 
Moses, accounted one day of the seven more sacred than the rest. 
Hesiod styles the seventh dav, ‘‘The illustrious light of the sun;” 

B 2 




4 


INTRODUCTION. 


pointed from the beginning by God himself, (Gen. ii. 2, 3,7 
and was set apart from works of labour, and to be employed 
in public worship and acts of charity. 

Here ev’ry day was Sabbath : only free 
From hours of pray’r, for hours of charity. 

Such as the Jews from servile toil releas’d, 

Where works of mercy were a part of rest. 

Dry den. 

The Jews still observe Saturday, or the seventh day of 
the week, as their Sabbath, being that appointed in the 
fourth commandment under the law,* * as do likewise the 
Sabbatarians, or Seventh-day Baptists , a small sect of 
Christians, who are thus called because they still observe 
the Jewish or Saturday-Sabbath, from a persuasion that it 
was never abrogated in the New Testament by the institu¬ 
tion of any other. See Geo. Exer. on the New Testament. 

The appointment of a Sabbath is a most wise designation 
of time for the recruiting of our strength, for maintaining a 
sense of the great benefits we have received from God, and 
for inculcating a spiritual temper of mindr to prevent our 
bodies from being too much fatigued and wasted, and our 
minds too long engaged about the concerns of this transitory 
world;—one of the most blessed institutions of society; a 
day of rest to the weary, of instruction to the ignorant,* 


and Homer says, “Then came the seventh day, which is sacred 
or holy.” Almost all nations, too, who have any notions of re¬ 
ligion, have appropriated one day in seven to the purposes of 
public devotion; though they have differed with regard to the 
particular day. The Jews perform their religious worship on 
Saturday; the Christians on Sunday; and the Mahometans on 
Friday, because the Hegira occurred on that day. See Hegira, 
Index; and Exer . on theNeiv Test. art. Judaism, Christianity, and 
Mahometanism. 

* We cannot forbear, on the present occasion, congratulating 
the nation at large on the establishment of Sunday-Schools; 
a benevolent measure, which, as the Dean of Lincoln justly 
observes, appears to possess an invaluable antidote to the poison¬ 
ous manners of this depraved age. The power and efficacy of 
these institutions reach to such an extent of situation and of 
numbers, as no other mode of improvement can possibly equal. 
Having, continues the same venerable character, anxiously watch¬ 
ed their infancy, and attended to their progress, I have thought 
their principles the most unequivocal, and their influence the 
most extensive, that can be employed in the cause of general 
reformation. 

The endowment of Sundav-Schools was beguu in 1785; from 



INTRODUCTION, 5 

wild of devotion to the pious. Were it not for the happy 
institution of the Lord’s-day, says Archbishop Sharpe, we 


which period to the year 1803, upwards of 200,000 children had 
been admitted into them! See Raikes, Index. 

The due observance of the Sabbath is the first point inculcated 
by these institutions; and the mind is formed, in its earliest ap¬ 
prehension, thus to feel the just value of this great security and 
its future conduct; for among the chief causes which the unhap¬ 
py victims to the laws of their country allege for their ruin, the 
breach of the Sabbath must ever be accounted the first step in 
guilt, as it takes place before they are capable of the crimes of 
more mature age. He who will take the trouble to peruse the 
accounts of the lives, trials, and execution of the most notorious 
malefactors in this kingdom, will find the confessions of culprits 
to this effect endless, protesting in their last moments, with an¬ 
guish of heart, that the violation of the Sabbath was the first 
offence in their iniquitous course. That, however the career of 
their villany terminated , it almost always began by a neglect of 
attending divine worship on a Sunday; by shortly after profaning 
it with gambling, tippling, and other excesses; and in the last 
stages of their profligacy, by often selecting it as best suited for 
their thefts, depredations, sacrileges, and murders. 

Remarkably illustrative of the happy effects of early instruction 
on the lower classes of society, is the declaration of Mr. Howard, 
that “he found many of the prisons in Switzerland empty of cri¬ 
minal prisonersa circumstance which that celebrated philan¬ 
thropist ascribed solely to the great care that was taken in that 
country to give children, even the poorest , a moral and religious 
education. A similar remark has been applied to Scotland. 

But of all the institutions connected with the education, and 
consequently the amelioration of the lower classes, that of the 
indefatigable and singularly ingenious Joseph Lancaster is pre¬ 
eminently entitled to our unqualified admiration and regard. In 
the various schools formed by this unrivalled benefactor of the 
rising generation, several thousand poor children are receiving 
daily instruction iu various parts of the kiugdom; and by the 
liberal patronage of His Majesty and the Royal Family, many 
of the nobility and clergy, together with the philanthropic 
aid of a British public, it is probable that his invaluable plans 
will be extended through every populous district in the em¬ 
pire: an auspicious measure, which will have an incalculable 
influence upon the morals and conduct of the lower orders of 
society; and thus, by diminishing the number of crimes, and 
cherishing and promoting virtuous dispositions among the great 
mass of the people, most materially contribute to the happiness 
and security of the state. In some places where these elementary 
schools have been established, by the Committees’ dividing the 
pupils into different bodies, and conducting them to the several 



6 


INTRODUCTION. 


should hardly see any face of religion among us, and in a 
little time should scarcely be distinguished from Heathens.* * 
It is, however, greatly to be lamented, that, notwithstand¬ 
ing the wisdom and benevolence of this injunction, there 
are too many 

Whose ardent labours for the toys they seek, 

Join night to day, and Sunday to the week. 

Young. 

Monday, the second day of the week, is so called, as 
being anciently sacred to the moon; q. d. moon-day. 

Tuesday, the third day of the week, is by some said to 
be derived from a Saxon word denoting the god Mars; 
according to others, from Tuisco, or Tuisto, a celebrated 
person or deified hero among the Saxons, mentioned by 
Tacitus. He gave them laws, polished them, established 
religious ceremonies among them, and obtained such a high 
degree of reputation, that after his death they ranked him 
among the gods. See Orpheus and Ampliion, Eater. on the 
Globes. 

Wednesday, the fourth day of the week, was formerly 
consecrated by the inhabitants of the northern nations to 
Woden or Odin, who being reputed the author of magic, 
and inventor of all the arts, was thought to answer to the 
Mercury of the Greeks and Romans, in honour of whom 
they called the same day dies Mercur 'ii. 

Thursday, the fifth day of the week, is derived from 
Thor, a deified hero worshipped by the ancient inhabitants 


places of worship, hundreds of children are taken in an orderly 
manner to attend divine service, who had heretofore profaned 
the Lord’s-day by idle and vicious conduct in the streets. The 
improvement in morals, and the habits of order, among the 
children who are educated on Mr. Lancaster’s system, are of the 
most gratifying nature. In the Borough School alone, several 
thousand children have been educated, whose parents were of the 
poorest description; and hitherto no instance has occurred of any 
of these being charged with a criminal offence in any court of jus¬ 
tice. See “ An Account of the Progress of Joseph Lancaster’s 
Plan for the Education of Poor Children, and the Training of 
Masters for Country Schools.” 

* Such of our readers as are desirous of seeing the sanctity of 
the Sabbath ably vindicated—the principal objections against its 
perpetuity fully answered—and the manner in which it should be 
observed by Christians judiciously enforced, may consult the late 
Rev. Samuel Palmer’s excellent little tract, entitled, “An Apo¬ 
logy for the Christian Sabbath.” 




INTRODUCTION. 


7 


of the northern nations, particularly by the Scandinavians 
and Celts. The authority of this deity extended over the 
winds and seasons, and especially over thunder and light¬ 
ning. He is said to have been the most valiant of the sons 
of Odin. This day, which was consecrated to Thor, still 
retains his name in the Danish, Swedish, and Low-Dutch 
languages, as well as in the English. Thursday, or Thorsg- 
day, has been rendered into Latin by dies Jovis , or Ju¬ 
piter’s day; for this deity, according to the ideas of the 
Romans, was the god of thunder. 

Friday, the sixth day of the week, is so named from 
Freya, or Friga, a goddess worshipped by the Saxons on 
this day. 

For Venus, like her day, will change her cheer, 

And seldom shall we see a Friday clear. 

Dryden. 

Friga was the wife of Thor, and the goddess of peace, 
fertility and riches. Thor, Friga, and Odin, composed the 
court or supreme council of the gods, and were the princi¬ 
pal objects of the worship and veneration of all the Scan¬ 
dinavians, or ancient inhabitants of Norway, Denmark, and 
Sweden. 

Friday is a fast-day in the Church of England, in me¬ 
mory of our Saviour’s crucifixion, (see April 3, 33,) unless 
Christmas-day, which is always a festival, happens to fall 
on Friday. 

Saturday, the seventh or last day of the week, is so 
called, as some have supposed, from the idol Seater, wor¬ 
shipped on this day by the ancient Saxons; though others, 
with more probability, assert that it is derived from the 
planet Saturn, dies Satumi. Some indeed maintain, that 
the Saturn of the Latins and the Seater of the Saxons are 
the same. 

The Sun still rules the Week’s initial day, 

The Moon o’er Monday yet retains the sway; 

But Tuesday, which to Mars was whilome given, 

Is Tuesco’s subject in the northern heaven ; 

And Woden hath the charge of Wednesday, 

Which did belong of old to Mercury; 

And Jove himself surrenders his own day 
To Thor, a barbarous god of Saxon clay : 

Friday, who under Venus once did wield 
Love’s balmy spells, must now to Friga yield; 

WJiile Saturn still holds fast his day, but loses 
The Sabbath, which the central sun abuses. 

Perennial Calendar. 


8 


INTRODUCTION. 


A Month is the twelfth part of the year, or a space of 
time measured either by the sun or moon : the lunar month 
is the time between the change and change, or the time in 
which the moon, in her course round the earth, comes to 
the same point: the solar month is the time in which the 
sun passes through a sign of the zodiac; the calendar 
months, by which we reckon time, are unequally of thirty 
or thirty-one days, except February, which is of twenty- 
eight, and in leap-year of twenty-nine. The number of 
days in each month may be known by the following lines: 

Thirty days have September, 

June, April, and November ; 

February twenty-eight alone; 

And all the rest have thirty-one. 

The ancient Hebrews had no particular names to express 
their months; they said, the first, second, third, and so 
on; * as that very respectable class of people called Friends 
do in the present day. 

The names of the months were various in different parts 
of Greece. The Roman months were the same as those 
now in use among most of the Europeans, viz. January, 
February, March, April, May, June, July, August, 
September, October, November, and December. 

A Year. A year, in the full extent of the word, is a 
system, or cycle of several months; usually twelve. Others 
define year, in the general, as a period, or space of time, 
measured by the revolution of some celestial body in its 
orbit. Thus, the times wherein Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, 
Moon, &c., finish their revolutions, and return to the same 
point of the zodiac, are respectively called the years of Ju¬ 
piter and Saturn; and the solar, and the lunar years. 

Year, properly and by way of eminence so called, is the 
Solar Year; or the space of time wherein the sun moves 
through the twelve signs of the ecliptic. This, by the ob¬ 
servations of the most celebrated astronomers, contains 365 
days, 5 hours, and 49 minutes; which is the quantity of the 
year assumed by the authors of the Gregorian calendar; 
though some make it a few seconds, and others a whole 
minute, less. But, in the civil, or popular account, this 
year only contains 365 days, except every fourth, which 
comprehends 366. See September 2, 1/52, and Decem¬ 
ber 15, 1582. 


* See Dr. Rees’s New Cyclopcedia , and Cruden’s Concordance , 
art. Month. 



INTRODUCTION. 


9 


The Egyptians are said to have been the first who fixed 
the length of the year, making it to consist of 360 days, 
which they separated into 12 months, in order that it might 
agree with the course of the moon: five days more were 
afterwards added; and the same thing was done among the 
Greeks by Thales.* But the Jews, Syrians, Ethiopians, 
Romans, Persians, and Arabs, had all years of different 
lengths. The day on which the year commences, is also 
different in different countries. William the Conqueror, 
having been crowned on the first of January,ff gave occa¬ 
sion, as Stow observes, to the English to begin their year 
at that time, in order to make it agree with the most re¬ 
markable period of their history. + The Mahometans begin 
their year on the day when the sun enters Aries; the Per¬ 
sians in the month which answers to our June; the Chinese 
and Indians with the first new moon which happens in 
March; and the Mexicans on the 23d of February, at which 
time the verdure in that country first begins to appear. It 
may not, perhaps, be improper to subjoin, that, notwith¬ 
standing the day wherein the year commences has always 
been very different in different nations, yet in all has it been 
held in great veneration. Among the Romans, the first and 
last day of the year were consecrated to Janus. To them 
we owe the ceremony of wishing a happy year y which ap¬ 
pears to be very ancient. Before the first day was spent, 
they visited and complimented each other. 

The joyous morn appears, let all attend 
With silence, and kind salutations send 
From house to house. 

M assey ’s Ovid's Fasti. 


* Thales was born at Miletus, in Asia Minor, about 641 years 
8. C. He was the first of the Greeks who laid the foundations of 
astronomy; he explained the causes of eclipses, and predicted 
one; he taught that the earth was round, and divided it into five 
zones; he discovered the solstices and equinoxes, divided the 
year into 365 days, and, according to Cicero, was the most illus¬ 
trious of the Seven Wise Men. See Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. 

Miletus. , . 

The Seven Sages of Greece, as generally given, were Thales, 
-Solon, Chilo, Pittacus, Bias, Cleobulus, and Periander; though 
some have substituted others. See Bourn’s Gaz., art. Lechoeum. 

f See January 1, 1067. 

j Though the historical year began in England on the day of 
the circumcision, i. e. the first of January (on which day the 
German and Italian year also begins), yet the civil or legal year 

b 3 






10 


INTRODUCTION. 


They also presented Strenae,* * and offered vows to the gods 
for the preservation of each other, as may be found in 
Lucian, Ovid, and Pliny. 

Since the time of William the Conqueror, the King’s 
patents, charters, proclamations, and the acts of Parliament, 
have been generally dated by the year of the king’s reign : 
e. g. any act passed in the year 1822 is entitled, “An Act 

OF THE SECOND OF HIS PRESENT MAJESTY, GeORGE IV.” 


did not commence till the day of Annunciation, i. e. on the 25th 
of March. The part of the year between those two terms was 
usually expressed both ways, as 1748-9 or 174f-. But by the Act 
for altering the style, the civil year now begins with January 1. 

* Presents made on the first day of the year were called Stre- 
nse, as is thought, from the following circumstance: Tatius, King 
of the Sabines, who was appointed joint sovereign with Romulus, 
considered as a good omen a present he had received on the 6th 
day of the new year, of some branches of vervaine, gathered from 
the wood of Strenua, the goddess of strength : at first, gifts 
among the Romans were confined to these Strenae ; but they soon 
extended to figs, dates, honey, &c., and, by degrees, to more 
valuable things:— 

In these three sweets , an omen does appear, 

That things may sweetly run throughout the year. 




CHRONOLOGICAL EXERCISES. 


JANUARY. 

Stern winter’s icy breath, intensely keen, 

Now chills the blood, and withers every green; 

\ Bright shines the azure sky, serenely fair, 

And driving snows obscure the turbid air.” 

January, the first month of the year, received its name 
from Janus, one of the Roman divinities,* to whom it was, 
among that people, consecrated. 

The first of all does Janus’ month appear; 

He’s like the gate, or entrance of the year. 

Massey’s Ovid’s Fasti. 

Janus is painted with two faces, because, say some, on the 
one side, the first day of January looked towards the new 
year, and, on the other, towards the old one. According 
to others, the two faces of Janus signify Providence. Art¬ 
ists represent January clad in white, the colour of the earth 
at this time, blowing his nails. The beauty of a country all 
clothed in new-fallen snow is delineated by Thomson in his 
usual happy manner: 

’ The cherish’d fields 

Put on their winter robe of purest white. 

’Tis brightness all: save where the new snow melts 
Along the mazy current. Low the woods 
Bow their hoar head; and, ere the languid sun, 

Faint from the West, emits his evening ray, 

Earth’s universal face, deep hid and chill, 

Is one wild dazzling waste, that buries wide 
The works of men. 

January and February were introduced into the year 
by Numa Pompilius, who was a little better acquainted 
with the celestial motions than his predecessor. The year 
of Romulus began in March, and therefore had only ten 
months. 

While Rome’s great Founder made the times his care. 

Ten months he chose to constitute the year; 


* See Arith. Quest, art. Janus; Bourn’s Gazetteer , Bethlehem, 
Cures, and Janiculus. 






12 


JANUARY. 


But Numa, better skill’d in astral lore. 

To Romulus’s months adjoin’d two more. 

* # * ♦ * * 

And again: 

Two months too short was anciently the year; 

No pious February then was there; 

And that which now is made the first in fame. 

The month from Janus, had receiv’d no name. 

Massey’s Ovid's Fasti. 

The ancient Christians* fasted on the first day of Janu¬ 
ary, by way of opposition to the practice of the Heathens, 
who, in honour of Janus, observed this day with feastings, 
dancings, and masquerades. 

REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, 1067- William the Conquerer was crowned at West¬ 
minster. He was born at Falaise, died near Rouen, and 
was buried at Caen, which are all in the north part of 
France, in the province of Normandy. With William 
began the Norman line of kings. It followed the Saxon 
dynasty, which terminated in the person of Harold. This 
aera is known as that of “the Conquest.” See Battle of 
Hastings, September 9, 1087, October 14, 1066, and 
Arith. Quest , by the late William Butler. 

— 1308. Origin of Swiss Liberty. On this day that 
illustrious patriot, William Tell, joined his heroic com¬ 
panions to oppose their tyrannical oppressors, and effect 
the freedom of their native country; which, after a glori¬ 
ous struggle of more than 300 years, was declared free 
and independent by the treaty of Westphalia, A. D. 1648. 
See Exercises on the Globes, art. Sagitta. The Swiss or 
Helvetic confederacy was dissolved by French influence 
in 1798; but it was restored, and its independence 
guaranteed, by the Congress of Sovereigns at Vienna, in 
1815. The Republic now consists of 22 cantons. Bern, 
a town finely situated on the Aar, is its capital. See 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1515. Expired Louis XII., King of France, in the 
53rd year of his age, to the extreme regret of the French 
nation, who, sensible of his tender concern for their wel- 


* Christians were first so called at Antioch, in Syria, Acts 
xi. 26 ; Geog. Exer. on the New Test. 4th edit. 




JANUARY. 


13 


fare, gave him, with one voice, the grateful and honour¬ 
able appellation of father of his people. He was econo¬ 
mical, and diminished the taxes, raised merit from ob¬ 
scurity, protected the peasants and artisans, watched 
the administration of justice, and wished the law to be 
impartially administered. Louis was born at Blois, in the 
department of Loire and Cher, province of Orleannois. 
See April 7, 1498, June 2/, 1462, and October 9, J514. 

1, 1630. Hobson’s Death. On this day expired Thomas 
Hobson, the celebrated carrier of Cambridge, on whom 
Milton, who was then studying at the University, wrote 
two whimsical epitaphs,* and thus rendered him “ an im¬ 
mortal carrier .” Hobson’s inn at London was the Bull 
in Bishopsgate Street, where his figure in fresco, with an 
inscription, was formerly to be seen.f Milton represents 
Death in pursuit of him ; 

For he had any time this ten years full, 

Dodg’d with him betwixt Cambridge and the Bull. 

One of our most general proverbial expressions origi¬ 
nated with this benevolent carrier; who, to his employ¬ 
ment in that capacity, added the profession of supplying 
the students with horses; and having made it an unalter¬ 
able rule that every horse should have an equal portion of 
rest as well as labour, would never let one out of its turn; 
and hence the derivation of the saying, “ Hobson’s 
choice : this or none.” 

— 1651. Charles II., son of Charles I., was crowned at 
Scone in Perthshire, Scotland. See September 3, 1651. 

So thanks to all at once, and to each one, 

Whom w T e invite to see us crowned at Scone. , 

Shakspeare. 

— 1801. Union of Ireland with Great Britain. 
This grand political measure will, it is ardently hoped, 
raise, in the course of time, that long-suffering and dis¬ 
tracted country to the state of opulence and prosperity, 
of which her soil, numerous harbours, and geographical 
position, render her so eminently capable, if properly 


* See Milton’s Poems, with Notes by Wharton, p. 318. edit. 2. 

f Hobson having been a frugal, thriving man, was drawn with 
a hundred-pound bag of money under his arm, with this inscrip¬ 
tion upon the bag: 

The fruitful mother of a hundred more. 

Spectator, No. 509. 




14 JANUARY. 

supported by the substantial and impartial blessing's of the 
British constitution. 

1, 1801. Ceres. On this day, M. Piazzi, astronomer at 
Palermo, in the island of Sicily, discovered a new primary 
planet, to which he gave the appellation of Ceres, in allu¬ 
sion to the goddess of that name in fabulous history, who 
was highly esteemed by the ancients of Sicily.*—The 
number of primary planets is now eleven, viz. Mercury, 
Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Georgium 
Sidus, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta.—See Arithmetical 
Questions, and Exercises on the Globes, art. Solar System. 

— 1802. New Cyclopedia. On this day commenced 
the publication of an enlarged edition of the Cyclopaedia.f 
This truly national work was completed in 1820, in 45 
volumes quarto, and will remain a lasting monument of 
the science, judgment, and industry of the learned and 
venerable Editor, Dr. A. Rees. See May 15, 1740. 

2, 17- Death of Ovid and Livy. Ovid, a native of 

Sulmo,! and one of the finest poets of that splendid era, 
the Augustan age, expired at Tomi, near Varna, on the 
Black Sea, whither he had been banished by the Emperor 
Augustus, but for what reason is not known. The sweet¬ 
ness, elegance, and pathos of his verse, have placed him 
among the first of Roman poets; but some of his writings 
have an immoral tendency. His most popular production 
is the “ Metamorphoses,” in which he has depicted the 
ingenious and elegant fictions of Heathen mythology. 
Ovid’s death is said to have happened on the same day 
with that of Livy, the celebrated Roman historian, who 
was born at Padua, in the north of Italy, 59 years B. C. 
See April 23, 1616. 

— 1727. General Wolfe was born at Westerbam, 
eight miles from Sevenoaks, in Kent See Wolfe, Index, 
and Arithmetical Questions. 


* See Exer. on the Globes, art. Ceres. M. Piazzi, the ingeni¬ 
ous discoverer of Ceres, and Professor at Malta and Palermo, was 
born at Ponte, on the Adda, in the Valteline, kingdom of Vene¬ 
tian Lombardy. He visited Paris and London in the year 1787. 
At the last city he purchased instruments for the then newly- 
erected observatory at Palermo, and obtained Lalande’s prize 
medal. See March 28, 1802, and July 22, 1826. 
f The word Cyclopaedia means a body or circle of sciences. 

X Sulmo was an ancient town of Italy, about 90 miles east of 
Rome, in lat. 42 north. Wilkinson’s Italia Antiqua , and Sul- 
mona, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 



JANUARY. 


15 


2, 1801. Expired, in the 60th year of his age, and at his 
native place, Zurich, in the north of Switzerland, the 
celebrated physiognomist, John Casper Lavater, whose 
works have been long familiarized to England by very 
expensive translations. A servant would, at one time, 
scarcely be hired till the descriptions and engravings of La¬ 
vater had been consulted, in careful comparison with the 
lines and features of the young man’s or woman’s coun¬ 
tenance. The physiognomical delirium of the weak, 
however, soon excited the derision of the witty and the 
wise; and the mania is now pretty much abated. Lavater, 
notwithstanding his wild reveries on the subject of physi¬ 
ognomy, is allowed to have been an amiable man, and a 
respectable minister. He died in consequence of a wound 
which he had received from a French soldier a year 
before. 

— 1827- John Mason Good, M. D., died at Shepperton, 
a village of Middlesex, on the Thames. Dr. Good was 
the author of several works, among which were “ Physi¬ 
ological System of Nosology,” “ The Study of Medicine,” 
and “ The Book of Nature.” He translated the Book 
of Job, and Lucretius on the Nature of Things. The 
latter performance is in blank verse, and is illustrated by 
numerous notes and observations, and by an astonishing 
variety of quotations from writers in almost every polished 
language, ancient as well as modern, elucidating his views 
of this Latin poet. The Book of Nature is a series of 
lectures on Natural Philosophy or Physics, and is a work 
of considerable merit. The versatile ability, the various 
knowledge and learning, and, above all, the pious and 
hutnble application of both, which are exhibited in the 
author’s mind, cannot fail to excite the admiration of the 
attentive and candid reader. Dr. Good was also the co¬ 
adjutor of Dr. Olinthus Gregory and Mr. Newton Bos- 
worth in the compilation of a new Cyclopaedia, entitled 
“ Pantalogia,” a work which in its execution evinced the 
competent ability of its authors. 

3, 107 B. C. Cicero, one of the greatest orators, states¬ 
men, and philosophers of antiquity, was born at Arpi- 
num, a town of ancient Latium, north of Aquinum, and 
south of Lake Fucinus.* See December 7, 43 B. C., and 
Tullia, Index. 


* Cellarius’s Map ; Italia Media sive Propria; and Wilkin¬ 
son’s Class. Atlas. 



JANUARY. 


1C) 

3, 1670, A. D. Died General Monk, Duke of Albe¬ 
marle, a principal instrument in restoring' Charles II., 
after he had been an exile almost nine years. General 
Monk was a native of Potheridge, Devonshire, where he 
was born in 1608. Mr. Fox (Hist, of the Reign of James 
II.,) speaking of the Restoration, says, “All depended 
on the army, and that army had fallen into the hands of 
one than whom a baser could not be found in its lowest 
ranks. Personal courage appears to have been Monk’s 
only virtue; reserve and dissimulation made up the whole 
stock of his wisdom.”—“ Profit,” says Clarendon, “ was 
always the highest reason with Monk—and of the inhu¬ 
manity of his heart, a revolting instance is recorded in the 
Life of Colonel Hutchinson, He was also the vile be¬ 
trayer of the illustrious Argyle, who was beheaded in 
1661. 

— 1795. Died, at his seat at Etruria,* Staffordshire, in 
the 64th year of his age, Josiah Wedgwood, to whose 
great ingenuity England is indebted for the establishment 
of a manufacture that has opened a new scene of traffic 
before unknown to this or any other country! By the 
genius, taste, and skill of Mr. W., the pottery of Stafford¬ 
shire was extended and applied to a variety of curious 
compositions, subservient not only to the ordinary pur¬ 
poses of life, but to the arts, antiquity, history, &c., and 
thereby rendered a very important branch of commerce, 
both foreign and domestic. Before his time, England 
imported the finer earthenwares; but for many years she 
has exported them to a very great amount, the whole of 
which is drawn from the earth, and from the industry of 
the inhabitants; while the national taste has been improv¬ 
ed, and its reputation raised in foreign countries. The 
difference between Mr. Wedgwood’s ware and that of 
others is, chiefly, that the figures of the bas-reliefs have 
no glazing; the ground has it. The forms are very beau¬ 
tiful, all imitated from the antique, and in the* purest 
taste. The figures are extremely well designed, especially 
those raised on a blue ground. The tasteful proprietor 
profited by Sir William Hamilton’s beautiful collection of 
Etruscan vases. See Arith. Quest, art. Earthenware. 

— 1805. Died Charles Townley, Esq., whose noble 


* Etruria was the ancient name of modern Tuscany, in Italy. 
It was noted for its earthenware. Mr. Wedgwood, therefore, 
appropriately named his establishment after that ancient district. 



JANUARY. 


17 


collection of sculpture now decorates the British Mu¬ 
seum. He was supposed to be the best judge of sculp¬ 
ture in Europe. In the first room of the department of 
Antiquities* and over the door, is a bust of this distin¬ 
guished amateur, by the classic chisel of Nollekens. 

4, 1568. Died Roger Ascham, who had been Latin 

secretary and tutor in the learned languages to Queen 
Elizabeth, by whom he was much lamented ; her Majesty 
having, it is said, declared that she would rather have 
lost ten thousand pounds than her tutor Ascham. Being 
remarkable for writing a fine hand, he was employed to 
instruct several of the Royal Family in that useful art.* 
He was born at Kirkby-Wiske, about seven miles S. from 
Northallerton, in Yorkshire, in the year 1515, and was 
buried in St Sepulchre’s church, London. 

— 1712. Prince Eugene, of Savoy, arrived in England. 
On his audience of leave, March 13, 1712, Queen Anne 
presented him with a sword, valued at 5000/. He had 
rendered eminent services to this country in conjunction 
with the Duke of Marlborough; and was at one time so 
great a favourite with the English, that, according to 
Horace Walpole, an old maid bequeathed him 2500/., and 
a gardener 100/. See Eugene, Index. 

—- 1724. Philip V., King of Spain, resigned his crown 
to his son, and retired to his palace of St. Ildefonso, in 


* The Queen herself wrote an exceedingly fair hand ; witness 
the beautiful little prayer-book, in five languages, which was sold 
at the late Duchess of Portland’s sale for a hundred guineas. As 
an antidote to the vulgar notion, that execrable hand-writing is a 
mark of gentility and taste, we shall quote the following observa¬ 
tions of the eminently learned Dr. Parr, who, in his Characters 
of the Honourable Charles James Fox, says, “ he hopes to put 
some check upon the boyish heedlessness or petty vanity of those 
who are disposed to slight good penmanship, as below the notice 
of a scholar, by reminding him, that in the art of writing, Mr. 
Fox was eminently distinguished by the clearness and firmness, 
Mr. Professor Porson by the correctness and elegance, and Sir 
William Jones by the ease, beauty, and variety, of the characters 
which they respectively employed.” Admiral Lord Collingwood, 
in an admirable letter to his daughters respecting their writing, 
concludes by informing them, that “he thinks he can know the 
character of a lady pretty nearly by her hand-writing: the dash ¬ 
ers all impudent, however they may conceal it from themselves 
or others : and the scribblers flatter themselves with the vain 
hope, that as their letter cannot be read it may be mistaken for 
sense.” See Sept. 26, 1750 j and Fox, Porson, and Jones, Index. 



18 


JANUARY. 


New Castile, Spain. It is somewhat remarkable, that in 
less than eighty years four sovereigns abdicated their 
thrones;* * * § namely, Christina, Queen of Sweden, in 1654; 
Casimir, King of Poland, in 160/ ; Philip, King of Spain, 
in 1724; and Amadeus, King of Sardinia, in 1730. See 
also January 1G, 1556, and Dec. 19, 1683. 

5, 1477. Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was 
killed in his retreat after the battle of Nanci, province of 
Lorraine, department of Meurthe, France. This prince 
and Louis XI. were engaged in constant war, and the 
latter was taken prisoner by Charles, and compelled to 
sign an ignominious peace. See Peronne, Bourn’s Gaz. 

This restless duke invaded Switzerland, and treated the 
inhabitants with ruthless barbarity, but was at length de¬ 
feated in the battles of Granson and Morat, and lost his 
life by rashly invading the duchy of Lorraine. 

*— 1589. Catharine de’Medici, after being the wife 

of one king,f and the mother of three,;{; and occasioning 
during many years the misery and devastation of France, 
expired, aged 71, loaded with debts, at Blois, province of 
Orleannois, department of Loire and Cher. She was the 
daughter of Lorenzo de’Medici, Duke of Urbino, and 
niece of Pope Clement VII.,§ and was born at Florence. 
See Blois and Florence, Bourn’s Gaz. 

Catharine was a woman of infinite address, and seldom 
failed to overreach those whom it was her interest to de¬ 
ceive or gain over to her purposes. But she was destitute 
of real wisdom, for she lost the confidence of all, and 
died miserable and broken-hearted. Clever and cunning, 
but short-sighted, skilful in extricating herself from a 
scrape, unscrupulous about the means she employed, ut¬ 
terly without principle, and regardless of truth, she at¬ 
tained her immediate objects, but left an indelible im¬ 
pression of the fraud and artifice of her character. 

True (o no party ; but, to gain her end. 

Prompt to embrace her foe, desert her friend ; 

A slave to pleasure, to ambition more; 

Impious, though superstition’s chain she wore ; 

With every vice, in fine, in woman born, 

Stript of the virtues which their mind adorn. 


* Take physic, pomp ! Lear. 

i* Henry II. 

+ See June 29, 1559 ; Dec. 5, 1560 ; and Aug. 1, 1589. 

§ See the late William Butler’s Mis. Quest., Sept. 25, 1534. 




JANUARY. 


19 


, 5, 1757. Damiens attempted to assassinate Louis XV., 
while stepping into liis carriage, about six o’clock in the 
evening, as he was going to supper and to sleep at Tri¬ 
anon. He was struck on the right side, but the wound 
was not deep, and attended with 110 danger. The assassin 
was confined in the same prison at Paris in which Ravaillac 
had been confined, and after suffering the most shocking 
tortures, was executed March 28. 

— 1783. Onore, a seaport of the peninsula of Hindoo- 
stan, about 400 miles S. by E. of Bombay, was taken by 
the English with a most terrible carnage. 

— 1793. Expired at Millieent, in the county of Kildare, 
Ireland, Elizabeth Griffith, a novelist and dramatic 
writer, and author of a work entitled, “ The Morality of 
Shakspeare’s Drama illustrated,” “ Essays addressed 
to young Married Women,” and “ Letters of Henry and 
Frances.” 

— 1807. Died Isaac Reed, Esq., of London, his native 
place ; a gentleman distinguished by his extensive ac¬ 
quaintance with old English literature, and by his alacrity 
in opening the stores of a valuable library, to facilitate 
the literary pursuits of those who obtained an introduc¬ 
tion to him. Mr. Reed was for many years a proprietor 
and the Editor of the European Magazine, of which 
^bme of the most interesting contents, particularly in the 
biographical and critical departments, were the products 
of liis pen. His peculiar talents as a commentator ori 
our great Bard, and the tenor of his own character, were 
thus happily and briefly sketched by an anonymous 
writer: 

“ Too pompons, labour’d, confident, refin’d, 

Most annotations on our Bard appear; 

Thine trace with modest care his mighty mind, 

And, like thy life, are simple, just, and clear.” 

The works which have passed through Mr. Reed’s 
hands to the press are exceedingly numerous ; but he had 
a rooted objection to affixing his name to any of them ; 
an objection which continued insuperable till iiis last edi¬ 
tion of Shakspeare was printed; when he yielded to the 
entreaties of his friends, and his name was given to the 
work.—By his judgment in the value of books, and his 
industry in collecting, Mr. R. left behind him a library 
which, perhaps, had not cost him ^700, but which brought 
at an auction above «4’4000. 

— 1827. His Royal Highness, Frederick, Duke of 


20 


JANUARY. 


York, died, in his 64th year, at the house of his Grace 
the Duke of Rutland, in Arlington Street. He was Com¬ 
mander in Chief of all his Majesty’s Forces in the United 
Kingdom, to which honour he had been appointed in 
1795. In 1793, he was engaged in active service in 
France, and Valenciennes surrendered to a British army 
under his command, but an attempt to take Dunkirk 
proved abortive. In May, 1794, the Duke, after several 
attacks by Pichegru,* near Tournay, was obliged to re¬ 
tire, and after a succession of disappointments experi¬ 
enced by the allies, against which the British commander 
had perseveringly struggled, he returned to England. In 
1799, he again embarked on foreign service, landed near 
the Helder in Holland, in which country, though the Bri¬ 
tish and Russians were for a time successful, from the 
strong position taken by the French and Dutch command¬ 
ers, the Duke was under the necessity of entering into an 
agreement with Generals Brune and Daendels, by which 
it was stipulated that the English and Russians should be 
allowed to evacuate Holland on condition that 8000 sea¬ 
men, either Batavian or French, should be given up to 
the French Government. His Royal Highness was 
greatly beloved by the army, and was endeared to his 
friends and domestics by his affability and kindness. 

6, Epiphany. This is commonly called Twelfth-day, being 
the twelfth day after Christmas. The word is Greek, 
and signifies “ an appearance of light; a manifestation.” 
It is kept as a festival,f to celebrate the manifestation of 
Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ; and has a particular refer- 


* See Arbois, Arnheim, Scheveling, and Sinnamari, Bourn’s 
<Gaz. 

•f* Dr. Drake, in his valuable work, entitled, “ Shakspeare 
and his Times,” gives a curious and entertaining account of this 
remarkable holiday.—Twelfth Night, or wassailing, was once 
the delight of the metropolis and various parts of England ; being 
dedicated to sports and hilarity. 

The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse, 

Keeps wassail, and the svvagg’ring upspring reels. 

Shakspeare. 

Wassail was a liquor made of apples, sugar, and ale, anciently 
snitch used by the English goodfellows : hence the term wassailer 
implied a toper or drunkard : 

I’m loth to meet the rudeness and swill’d insolence 
Of such late wassailers. Milton. 





JANUARY. 


21 


ence to the Eastern sages (supposed by some to have 
been kings) who came to adore and bring our Saviour 
presents at Bethlehem in Judea. In allusion to this 
circumstance, the king offers annually by proxy in the 
Chapel-Royal, St. James’s, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 
See Geo. Exer. on the New Test, 4th edit. The origin 
of drawing for king and queen on this day is differently 
accounted for. Some maintain it to have been derived 
from the custom observed by the Roman children, who, 
at the end of their Saturnalia, drew lots with beans to 
see who would be king; while others, with more apparent 
reason, consider it as allusive to the offerings made by 
the Magi to the infant Jesus. 

6, 1366. Richard II. was born at Bourdeaux, in the de¬ 
partment of Gironde, France. He was son of Edward 
the Black Prince. See Feb. 14, 1400; June 13, 1483. 

— 1536. Queen Catharine of Arragon, in Spain, the 
divorced wife of the tyrant Henry VIII., died at Kimbol- 
ton, in Huntingdonshire, where she lived after her repu¬ 
diation. While it was in agitation, she resided in a castle 
at Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire; now the seat of that 
elegant scholar and patriotic statesman, Lord Holland. 
Dr. Johnson, in his remarks upon the tragedy of Henry 
VIII., says, that the meek sorrows and virtuous distresses 
of this queen have furnished some scenes which may be 
justly numbered among the greatest efforts of tragedy. 
But the genius of Shakspeare, he subjoins, comes in 
and goes out with Catharine. She was interred at Peter¬ 
borough, in Northamptonshire, where also was buried 
Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary’s body was removed to 
Westminster Abbey by her son James I.— Bourn’s Ga¬ 
zetteer. The divorce of Catharine is an important link in 
the mighty series of human events. It forms an asra in 
English history. The Pope’s refusal to sanction the di¬ 
vorce, so irritated Henry, that he embraced, nominally at 
least, the doctrines of Luther, which he had formerly op¬ 
posed, and against which he had written; and the Church 
of England was separated from the see of Rome! Thus 
a measure, originating in folly and crime, was productive 
of a glorious good. 

From Catharine’s wrongs a nation’s blifes was spread. 

See Ampthill, Bourn’s Gazetteer; September 25, 
1534; and Miscel. Quest., by the late W. Butler. 

,— 1540. Henry VIII. was married to Anne of Cleves, 
sister to William Duke of Cleves; a fine duchy in the circle 


00 


JANUARY. 


of Westphalia, Germany. She was the fourth wife of the 
capricious monarch, who in the following July divorced 
this innocent woman because she was not personally 
attractive. See Chelsea and Hever, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

6, 1781. Death of Major Peirson. A body of French 
troops having landed on the island of Jersey, in the En¬ 
glish Channel, surprised the Lieutenant-Governor, made 
him prisoner, and obliged him to sign a capitulation; but 
Major Peirson, the commander of the English troops, he¬ 
roically refusing his acquiescence in this compulsive trans¬ 
action, vigorously attacked the enemy in the town of St. 
Helier, and compelled them to surrender prisoners of 
war; a gallant action, which, however, cost the Major his 
life, being himself killed in the moment of victory. A 
brief account of several heroes who have been killed in the 
instant of success, is given in the Arithmetical Questions. 

A print, representing the death of Major Peirson, cost 
the late Mr. Alderman Boydell (including the painting) 
the amazing sum of ,€5000. It was painted by Copley, 
and engraved by Heath; and both the painting and en¬ 
graving rank among our best historical pieces. 

— 1786. Loss of the Halsewell East-Indiaman. 
This lamentable catastrophe took place at Seacombe, in the 
isle of Purbeck, near St. Aldhelm’s Head, a famous sea 
mark, consisting of a bold cliff, rising to the height of 
nearly 300 feet, on the coast of Dorsetshire. The vessel 
was commanded by Captain Pierce, a man of ability and 
character. Among the passengers were two of his own 
daughters, and five other ladies, equally distinguished by 
their personal charms and mental attainments. These, 
together with the venerable commander, most of his offi¬ 
cers, and the passengers, were all buried in the remorse¬ 
less deep ; and so complete was the wreck, that not an 
atom of the ship was ever after discoverable. To recon¬ 
cile the mind to disastrous scenes like the present, melan¬ 
choly in their operation, and unaccountable in the weak 
perceptions of human wisdom, we must not only believe 
that they are the dispensations of the Supreme Being, 
who “rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm but 
that his purposes are unquestionably wise, gracious, and 
ultimately merciful. A ray of light is also shed on the 
dark caverns of the deep by the promise that “ the sea 
shall give up her dead.” 

7, 1558. Calais, in the north part of France, surrendered 
to the French, after it had been in the possession of the 
English above 210 years. See Miscel. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 


JANUARY. 


23 


7, 1715. Fenelon, the celebrated Archbishop of Cam- 
bray, died and was buried on the 8th. In 1793 the body of 
this venerable inan was exhumed, that the lead in which he 
had been buried might be converted into cannon-balls. 
In 1801 a re-interment took place, and an elegant monu¬ 
ment has been erected in the cathedral of Cambray over 
his remains. See August 6, 1651. 

— 1785. Mr. Blanchard, accompanied by Dr. Jef¬ 
fries, went from Dover to the forest of Guines, near 
Calais, in France, in an air-balloon, in about two hours. 
The width of the Straits of Dover is 26 miles. 

— 1796. The late lamented Princess Charlotte was 
born. See Nov. 6, 1817- 

8, 1642. Expired, near Florence, in Tuscany, the cele¬ 
brated Galileo, who was born at Pisa, Italy, in 1564. 
He was the author of several noble and useful discoveries 
in astronomy, geometry, and mechanics; and was the 
first person who improved telescopes* * * § so as to answer 
astronomical purposes. To him the subsequent lines 
allude: 

The moon whose orb 

Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views 
At evening from the top of Fesol6,-f' 

Ur in Valdarno,t to descry new lands, 

Rivers, or mountains, on her spotty globe.§ 

Milton. 

— 1701. Origin of the Prussian Monarchy. On 
this day the Elector of Brandenburg, in Germany, as¬ 
sumed the crown under the title of Frederick the First, 
King of Prussia; and on January the 8th, 1801, being 
the centesimal anniversary of that memorable day, there 
was a grand fete given at Berlin to commemorate the 
event, which took place in the Great Church at Konigs- 
berg, a noble city on the Pregel, and capital of Prussia. 
The Elector put the crown (an iron one) on his head 
with his own hands, saying, “ God has given it to me; 

* See Exercies on the Globes , 11th edit. The word telescope 
comes from two Greek words : tvjXs, afar off, and (tmotveu, to 
view. Microscope comes from p/cpo?, small, and c tkottsw, to 
view. 

f Fesole, or Fiesole, was a city of Tuscany, in Italy, about 25 
miles from Pistoia, in a south-east direction, and three miles 
from Florence. See Nf.wton’s Milton. 

+ Vaidarno is the vale of Arno. The Arno is a beautiful river 
which runs through Tuscany. 

§ See Moon, Exercises on the Globes. 




24 JANUARY. 

woe be to him who attempts to take it from me.” Fre¬ 
derick died in 1713. 

8, 1753. Died, in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Sir Thomas Bur¬ 
net, third and youngest son of the celebrated Bishop of 
Salisbury. In his youth his dissipation gave his father 
much uneasiness ; but after his death he reformed, and in 
1741 was made one of the judges of the Common Pleas. 
In 1745, when the Lord Chancellor, judges, and gentle¬ 
men of the law, waited on his Majesty with their address 
on occasion of the rebellion, he was knighted. He was 
an able, upright judge, and a great benefactor to the 
poor. See March 17, 1715. 

9, -On this day was celebrated by the Romans the 

Feast of Agonalia, in honour of Janus, and attended 
with solemn exercises and combats. See Cures, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer , note. 

-—1514. Anne of Bretagne, wife of Charles VIII., king 
of Franee, an d after his death the wife of his successor, Louis 
XII., died at Blois. During Charles’s expedition in Italy 
she managed the atfairs of the nation with great prudence, 
expressed great grief at his death, abstaining from food 
two days, and weeping incessantly; and wore black as 
mourning, whereas white had been previously worn by 
the queens of France on the death of the kings. She 
was amiable, prudent, and politic, a lover of literature, 
and possessed the confidence of her second consort, who 
survived her. 

— 1766. Died, in consequence of a fall from his horse,* 
near Hampstead, Dr. Thomas Birch, a distinguished 
historical and biographical writer, being the author of 
many much-approved works, particularly “ The General 
Dictionary, Historical and Critical,” in 10 volumes, 
folio. He was born in London, 1/05, and bore through 
life the character of a very worthy man. 

10, 1645. Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, was beheaded 
on Tower^Hill, in the 71st year of his age, for high 
treason, not actually proved against him; but he fell a 
sacrifice to party violence and liis own high-church senti¬ 
ments, which induced him to attempt a general unifor¬ 
mity in religion, or rather to impose the doctrine, disci¬ 
pline, and hierarchy of the Church of England on the three 
kingdoms.^ He was a native of Reading, in Berkshire. 


* See Day, Thomas, Index. 

f When Charles V. retired to St. Juste, he amused himself 
with mechanics. One day he placed a number of watches before 
him on a table which he had vainly endeavoured to make agree 



JANUARY. 


25 


10, 1778. Death of Linnaeus. On this day expired the 
“ Father of modern botany/’ the celebrated Linnaeus, who 
was born at Rasliult, a village of Smaland, in Sweden, in 
1707. At the age of 34, he was made professor of physic 
and botany in the University of Upsal; and in the year 
1757, he was ennobled by his sovereign. 

Linnaeus, in his profound adoration of the Divinity, re¬ 
sembled Newton, Locke, Jones, Haller, Euler, Boerhaave, 
and other dignified characters, whose respect for religion 
render their knowledge still more estimable. The deeper 
he penetrated into the secrets of Nature, the more he ad¬ 
mired the wisdom of her Creator; 

And look’d through Nature up to Nature’s God. 

He praised this wisdom in his writings, recommended it 
by his speeches, and honoured it in his actions. When¬ 
ever he found an opportunity of expatiating on the great¬ 
ness, the providence, and omnipotence of God, t which fre¬ 
quently happened in his lectures and botanical excur¬ 
sions, his heart glowed with a celestial fire, and his mouth 
poured forth torrents of admirable eloquence. This made 
him one of the best inculcators of morality; he instilled, 
by so doing, a similar spirit of religion into the breasts of 
his pupils.* * Over the door of the hall in which he gave 
his lectures, was the following inscription : “ Innocui 
Vivite! Numen Adest!”—“Live guiltless—the Deity is 
present l” See Prov. xv. 3, and Geo. Eocer. on the New 
Test., No. 140. This truly great man was interred in the 
cathedral of Upsal. See Nov. 1, 1783. 

11, 1698. Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy or Russia, 
came to England and remained incognito. He improved 
himself at Deptford, in Kent, in the art of ship-building, 
and King William presented him with one of his royal 
yachts. 


exactly in their time. Having looked at them for some minutes, 
he said, “ How foolish was I to endeavour to make religious 
sects all agree in one doctrine ! 1 might as well expect this, as 

suppose that these watches would all move with the same regu¬ 
larity.” An excellent lesson this for Archbishop Laud, and for 
all bigoted zealots who insist upon there being only one entrance 
into heaven, viz. through the door of their own opinions. 

* It has been justly remarked of science in general, that 
though it will not create piety, it will feed it. Dr. Hooke, the 
naturalist, it is said, never made a discovery, but he inserted an 
entry in his journal of “ Glory to the Deity.” 

C 




26 


JANUARY. 


11, 1753. Sir Hans Sloane, baronet, died at his house at 
Chelsea, in the 93d year of his age. He was first physi¬ 
cian to George II., and many years president of the Royal 
Society.* His immense collection of books, manuscripts, 
and curious productions of nature and art, now form a 
most valuable part of the British Museum. His library 
consisted of 50,000 vols .; and his catalogue contained a 
description of 69,352 curiosities; a treasure which he 
said was destined to magnify God and benefit mankind. 
The beautiful botanical garden at Chelsea was left by him 
to the Company of Apothecaries. He was a liberal bene¬ 
factor to the necessitous, and chose to distribute his cha¬ 
rities in his (ife-time, rather than defer them till after his 
death. Sir Hans Sloane was born at Killileagh, in Down- 
shire, in the north-east part of Ireland; and was buried 
in Chelsea churchyard, where liis tomb is still in tolerable 
preservation. It is surmounted by the mystic symbols of 
the egg and the serpent in a good style of sculpture. See 
Exercises on the Globes, art. Serpents. 

— 1800. Died, in the 71st year of his age, at Dublin, to 
the deep regret of all good men, the worthy and amiable 
Archbishop Newcome ; equally conspicuous for his 
biblical knowledge, arduous labours, and unfeigned piety. 
He was successively bishop of Dromore, Ossory, and 
Waterford; and in 1795, was elevated to the highest dig¬ 
nity in the Irish church, by being translated to the archi- 
episcopal see of Armagh, the primacy of all Ireland. 
This admirable prelate’s works are numerous, and all tend 
to the advancement of sacred literature, the great object 
of his fondest ambition. He was a native of Abingdon, 
in Berkshire, where his father was the vicar of a parish. 

12, 1519. Expired Maximilian I., Emperor of Germany, 
whose death, as it left vacant the first station among 
Christian princes, set the passions of men in agitation, 
and proved a kind of sera in the general system of Europe. 
Charles, King of Spain, grandson of the deceased em¬ 
peror, and Francis, King of France, immediately declared 
themselves candidates for the Imperial crown, and em¬ 
ployed every expedient of money or intrigue which pro¬ 
mised them success in so great a point of ambition. Our 
Henry VIII. also, was encouraged to advance his preten¬ 
sions, but he found the votes of the electors already en¬ 
gaged. Charles was, at length, the successful candidate. 


* See Society and Museum, Index. 




JANUARY. 


2 7 


and thus became possessed of a greater and more exten¬ 
sive empire than any known in Europe since that of the 
Romans. Of this empire it has been said, that the sun 
never set upon the dominions of Charles : they embraced 
the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Maximilian’s 
death, according to some authors, occurred at Inspruck ; 
others say at Weis, near Lintz. 

12, 1807. Leyden, in Holland, was severely injured, 
about four o’clock in the afternoon, by the explosion of 
a large quantity of gunpowder, which was on board a 
vessel that had come up a canal into the street called the 
Rapenburg. One hundred and fifty dead bodies were 
taken from the ruins occasioned by the explosion, and 
upwards of two thousand were wounded more or less 
dangerously. Hone’s Every-Day Book , and Bourn’s 
Gazetteer , art. Leyden. 

13, St. Hilary or St. Hilartus. St. Hilary was born at 
Poitiers, in France, about the latter end of the third or 
beginning of the fourth century, though the particular 
year is no where mentioned. By an attentive perusal 
and study of the Holy Scriptures, after he had attained 
the age of maturity, he was converted from Paganism to 
Christianity, and in 355 he was elected Bishop of the 
place of his nativity, and was one of those pious and 
learned men so justly held in veneration as Fathers of the 
Christian church; a title given to all those eminent Chris¬ 
tian theologists who wrote prior to the 13th century. He 
died in 367, at about 80 years of age. (Claris Calendarm 
and Christian Observer , March 1825.) St. Hilary is re¬ 
corded to have been the first who composed hymns to be 
sung in churches, and his name is given to one of the 
four seasons of the year, when the courts of justice are 
opened and called Terms. Easter, Trinity, and Michael¬ 
mas, are the other three. 

— 1700. Monastic Establishments were suppressed 
in France. Protestants have always been accustomed to 
consider monastic institutions as the haunts of ignorance 
and superstition, where the proud priest and lazy monk 
fattened upon the riches of the land. It must, however, 
be admitted, that though we have now reason enough to 
rejoice that they are fallen, they have, nevertheless, in 
their day, been made subservient to some useful purposes. 
See Mrs. Barbauld’s Works. —Monastic establishments 
were suppressed in England at the Reformation, in the 
reign of Henry VIII. 

— 1800. Expired Dr. James Macknight, an eminent 

c 2 


28 


JANUARY. 


clergyman of the Church of Scotland. Of his various 
works the most distinguished is “ The Harmony of the 
Gospels/’ He was born at Irvine, in Ayrshire, in 1721. 

14, 1753. Death of Bishop Berkeley. This learned 
and ingenious man was bishop of Cloyne, in Ireland, 
and was born in that kingdom, at Kilerin, near Tho¬ 
mas Town, in the county of Kilkenny, the 12th of 
March, 1684. So very amiable and exemplary was this 
great man’s general character, that Pope is scarcely 
thought to have said too much when he ascribes to 
“Berkeley every virtue under heaven.” He expired 
without a groan, as he was sitting in the midst of his 
family, and just after he had concluded a comment on 
that most beautiful and consoling portion of Holy Writ, 
the 15th chapter of the first of Corinthians. Thus was 
vouchsafed to this most illustrious bishop, that Euthanasia 
for which Arbuthnot so tenderly sighed, and for which 
every reflecting mind must devoutly wish and pray. See 
Darwin, Index. 

— 1794. Died in London, in the 65th year of his age, Dr. 
Edward Harwood, an eminent Dissenting Minister and 
excellent classical scholar, whose learned works are well 
known, some of them having gone through many editions. 
His “Introduction to the Study of the New Testament” 
is a very valuable performance. Dr. Harwood was a na¬ 
tive of Lancashire. It was said, that he refused very 
liberal patronage offered to him, if he would join the 
Church of England. 

15, 1559. Queen Elizabeth was crowned at Westmin¬ 
ster. See March 24, 1603. Elizabeth was of the house 
of Tudor, and grand-daughter of Henry VII., the first of 
that family who sat on the throne. See Penmynidd, 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1747- John Aikin, M. D., was born at Kibworth, in 
the southern part of the county of Leicester. He was 
the author of various works which evince the elegance of 
his taste and the activity of his mind, but the most im¬ 
portant and interesting are, perhaps, his “ Letters from a 
Father to a Son, on various topics relative to Literature 
and the Conduct of Life,” and his “ Annals of the Reign 
of George the Third.” The candid, equitable, and inde¬ 
pendent spirit which pervades these works, render them 
particularly valuable. Dr. Aikin died on the 7th of De¬ 
cember, 1822, at Stoke Newington. 

— 1 795. The Prince of Orange, William V., Stadt- 
holder of the United Provinces, and his family, in conse- 


JANUARY. 


29 


quence of the successes of the French, were obliged to 
leave the Hague, and effect their escape to England, 
where they arrived on the 21st of the same month. They 
sailed from Scheveling, three miles from the Hague, and 
landed at Harwich, in Essex. See Nov. 15, 1813. 

16, 1556. The Emperor Charles V., after along and 
turbulent reign, resigned, at Brussels, the crown of Spain 
and other dominions to his son Philip, reserving nothing 
for himself but an annual pension of 100,000 crowns; 
and chose for the place of his retreat St. Juste, near Pla¬ 
centia, in Spain. See Oct. 25, 1555, January 4, 1724, 
and Placentia, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1/80. Admiral (afterwards Lord) Rodney destroyed 
several Spanish ships, near St. Vincent’s Cape, Portugal. 
This celebrated naval commander, who immortalized his 
name by numerous public services, died in 1792, aged 74. 
An elegant monument has been erected to his memory in 
St. Paul’s Cathedral. See April 12, 1782. 

— 1794. Expired suddenly at his lodgings in St. James’s 
Street, Westminster, Edward Gibbon, Esq., author of a 
celebrated work entitled “An History of the Decline and 
Fall of the Roman Empire,” which is generally allowed, 
though containing strong insinuations against Christianity, 
to be one of the most valuable, elegant, interesting, and 
comprehensive works ever communicated to the world by 
an individual. Great part of it was written at Lausanne, 
a beautiful town on the Lake of Geneva, Switzerland. 
Mr. Gibbon was born at Putney, in Surrey, 1737; and 
was buried in Lord Sheffield’s mausoleum, at Fletching, 
in Sussex. An inscription, by the learned Dr. Parr, re¬ 
cords his talents. 

— 1809. Death of Sir John Moore, K. B. This celebrated 
general died in the arms of victory, at Corunna, after 
accomplishing a safe retreat through a country in which 
he found no co-operation, and before an enemy who was 
vastly superior to him in numbers. He was born at Glas¬ 
gow about the year 1762, and was the eldest son of the 
late Dr. Moore, a gentleman well known by his numerous 
literary productions. The monument in St. Paul’s Ca¬ 
thedral to the memory of Sir John Moore, represents his 
interment by the hands of Valour and Victory; the latter 
lowering him into the grave by a wreath of laurel! which, 
says the Examiner , is an expressive and original action. 
See Arith. Quest, art. Laurel. Corunna is a sea-port of 
-Galicia, in the north-west part of Spain, at the mouth of 
4he Groyne. See Bourn’s Gazetteer. 


30 


JANUARY. 


17, 1706. Dr. Franklin was born at Boston, the capital 
of Massachusetts, United States, America. He was the 
son of a tallow-chandler, and early in life shewed a strong 
love of literature. He read many accounts of Voyages 
and Travels, but Defoe’s Essay upon Projects seems to have 
been the bias which influenced the complexion of his 
future career. He became the most distinguished philo¬ 
sopher and politician of his time; and from his electrical 
discoveries and determined opposition to the mistaken 
policy of Great Britain, it has been said, 

“Eripuit coelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis.” 

“ Cet homme audacieux, par ses efforts constans, 

Ravit au ciel sa foudre, et leur sceptre aux tyrans.” 

See Jan. 29, 1774; April 17, 1790; and Dec. 16, 1783. 

— 1792. Died George Horne, bishop of Norwich, 
whose “Sermons” and “Commentary on the Psalms” are 
highly esteemed, particularly the latter, which, as the in¬ 
scription on his tomb justly observes, “ will continue to 
be a companion to the closet, till the devotions of earth 
shall end in the hallelujahs of heaven ” His Female Cha¬ 
racter , drawn with great ability in one of his Discourses, 
has been much admired; for in that sketch he has paid an 
affectionate tribute of praise to the sex whose mild virtues 
contribute so essentially to the happiness of mankind. 
Bishop Horne was a native of Othain, in Kent, and was 
buried in the churchyard of Eltham, a small, but neat vil¬ 
lage, in the vicinity of Shooter’s Hill, in the same county. 

18, 1719. Died Sir Samuel Garth, an excellent poet and 
physician, and author of a most admirable satire, called 
“The Dispensary.” He was born, according to some of 
his biographers, in Yorkshire; according to others, at 
Bolam, in Durham ; and interred at Harrow-on-the-Hill, 
in Middlesex. 

19, The sun enters into the constellation zz, Aquarius. 
See Exer. on the Globes. 

— * 1547. Henry, Earl of Surrey, eldest son of 
Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk, was beheaded 
on Tower-hill on a charge of treason. He is celebrated 
by Drayton, Dryden, Fenton, and Pope; illustrated by 
his own muse, and lamented for his unhappy and unme¬ 
rited end. He shone in all the accomplishments of the 


* Dr. Nott, in his edition of the Works of the Earl of Surrey, 
says the 21st, but Rapin, Granger, and Lodge mention the 19th. 



JANUARY. 


31 


time in which he lived, and his name is renowned in its 
tournaments, and in his father’s battles. With high per¬ 
sonal courage he united a politeness and urbanity of 
manner then almost peculiar to himself: and his writings 
display an elegance of composition little, if at all, inferior 
to that of some of our best poets in any succeeding period. 
He was buried in the church of All-hallows, Barking, 
Tower-street, but afterwards removed to Framlingham. 

19, 1728. Died William Congreve, a celebrated dramatic 
writer and poet; author of several comedies and poems, 
and of the tragedy of “ The Mourning Bride.” He was 
descended from an ancient family in Staffordshire, and 
born at Bardsey, near Leeds, in Yorkshire, 1669. Amidst 
the fierce party contentions which divided almost all the 
other wits of his time, Congreve pursued a neutrality 
which gained him the compliments of both sides. Steele 
dedicated his Miscellanies to him, and Pope his Trans¬ 
lation of the Iliad. He was interred in Westminster 
Abbey. 

— 1730. The Czar Peter II. died at Moscow, of the 
small-pox, in the 15th year of his age, and the third of 
his reign. He was the grandson of Peter the Great. 

— 1736. Was born at Greenock, Scotland, James Watt, 
a philosopher, mechanician, and civil engineer. Among 
many improvements in the arts, the one to which man¬ 
kind is most indebted, is that of the Steam Engine, whose 
gigantic powers, through his contrivances, are now dis¬ 
played not only in all our manufacturing towns, in the 
finest and most delicate manufactures, but on the surface 
of the ocean and in the deepest recesses of the earth, in 
propelling and moving unwieldy masses. Though the 
Marquis of Worcester* and Captain Savery were the first 
who imparted a knowledge of the power of steam as a me¬ 
chanical agent, yet the successive improvements of Watt 
entitle him to the claim of the Inventor of the Steam En¬ 
gine. Mr. Watt died at his house at Heathfield, August 
25, 1819, and was buried at Hands worth, near Birming¬ 
ham. 

— 1785. Expired, in the 72nd year of his age, the Rev. 
Jonathan Toup, well known for his great knowledge 
and critical sagacity. He wrote annotations on Suidas, a 
Greek writer, and on Theocritus, the pastoral poet, and 
published an edition of Longinus, the critic. He was a 


* See Ragland and Wednesbury, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 



32 


JANUARY. 


native of St. Ives, in Cornwall, and was rector of St. 
Martin’s parish, adjacent to Morval, in the same county, 
thirty-four years. 

20, 1327. Edward II. was deposed, and the Prince his 
son declared King - , by the title of Edward III. He was 
crowned at Westminster on the 26th, in the fourteenth 
year of his age. See Sept. 21, 1327, and Miscell. Quest, 
in Eng. Hist. 

— 1779- Death of Garrick. On this day expired, at his 
house in the Adelphi,* London, David Garrick, Esq., 
who greatly surpassed all his predecessors of this, and 
perhaps every other nation, in his genius for acting, in 
the sweetness and variety of his tones, the irresistible 
magic of his eye, the fire and vivacity of his action, the 
elegance of his attitude, and the whole pathos of expres¬ 
sion. By the death of Garrick , said Johnson, the gaiety 
of nations is eclipsed! He was often styled ‘‘the 
English Roscius,” in allusion to the Roman comedian of 
that name who flourished about 50 years B. C., and was 
contemporary with iEsop the actor, and Cicero the orator. 
Garrick was born in February, 1716, at the Angel Inn, in 
Hereford, where his father, a captain in the army, was on 
a recruiting party. 

— 1790. The far-famed philanthropist Howard died at 
Cherson, the capital of New Russia. He was a native of 
Clapton, in the parish of Hackney,f where he was born 
in the year 1726. Admiral Priestman, a worthy Briton 
in the Russian service, who was Mr. Howard’s intimate 
friend, and attended him in his last moments, has erected 
a monument over his remains. It is an obelisk of white 
stone, and, standing on an elevated spot, it forms an inte¬ 
resting and admonitory object. The monument to Mr. 
Howard, the first erected in St. Paul’s Cathedral, was exe¬ 
cuted by Nollekens. It has an inscription from the pen 
of that inflexible patriot and eloquent orator Mr. Whit- 


* This magnificent range of buildings was called “Adelphi,” 
in honour of two brothers, its ingenious architects, the late 
Messrs. Adam; it being a Greek word denoting that relation. 
See March 3, 1792. 

f It was from this populous village that the coaches which 
ply in the streets obtained the appellation of Hackney Coaches; a 
name which has since diffused itself not only throughout Britain, 
but also in Ireland. See Arith, Quest, art. Coaches, aud Hackney, 
Index. • 



JANUARY. 3o 

bread. A brief account of Mr. Howard is given in the 
author’s Arithmetical Questions , 10th edit. 

20, 1810. Died at Naples, Charles IV., King of Spain, 
in the 71st year of his age. He was born in the same 
city, Nov. 11, 1749. He had abdicated the throne of 
Spain in 1808, in favour of his son Ferdinand, the pre¬ 
sent sovereign, and had reigned about 28 years. 

21, 1733. Died at Hackney, Dr. Bernard Mandeville, 
a Dutch physician, author of the Fable of the Bees, and 
other works more ingenious than useful. 

— 1750. Died at his academy near the London Tavern, 
Bishopsgate Street, that much-admired penman, John 
Bland, whose memory is endeared to all who are capable 
of relishing the beauty, or of appreciating the utility, of 
graceful and free writing. His running hand, in particu¬ 
lar, has received the highest commendation, being entirely 
devoid of that shackled formality which, before his time, 
pervaded the performances of the most eminent writing- 
masters.* Mr Bland was born in Crutched Friars, Lon¬ 
don, August 17, 1702, and was buried in St. Martin’s 
Outwicli Church, at the end of Threadneedle Street. 

— 1766. Expired at Bath, James Quin, a very celebrated 
actor, born in London, in 1693. He had the honour of 
instructing his late Majesty George III., when Prince of 
Wales, in the pronunciation of his mother tongue; and 
his Majesty, on coming to the crown, generously settled 
a pension on his old tutor for life. Quin, who was 
convivial and too fond of his bottle, which rendered him 
often coarse and quarrelsome, was otherwise manly, 
sensible, and generous. His deliverance of the poet 
Thomson, whom he knew only by character, from arrest, 
by a spontaneous gift of <£100, will always be told to his 
honour. Garrick, once his rival, and afterwards his 
friend, wrote this epitaph on his monument in the Abbey 
Church of Bath : 

“ That tongue which set the table in a roar, 

And charm’d the public ear is heard no more ; 

Clos’d are those eyes, the harbingers of wit, 

Which spake before the tongue what Shakspeare writ: 
Cold is that hand, which living was stretch’d forth, 

At friendship’s call, to succour modest worth. 

Here lies James Quin : deign, reader, to be taught; 
Whate’er thy strength of body, force of thought, 


* See his Essay on Writing, &c., &c., 
ham’s Universal Penman. 


c 3 


and his pieces in Bicr 




34 


JANUARY. 


In nature’s happiest mould, however cast, 

To this complexion thou must come at last.” 

21, 1793. Louis XVI., King of the French, was guillo¬ 
tined at Paris. This unfortunate monarch was born in 
1754; succeeded his grandfather, Louis XV., in 1774, and 
was crowned at Rheims in 1775. He was of the line of 
Capet. Hugh Capet, the founder of that dynasty, began 
to reign in 987. See July 3d. 

— 1814. Bernardin de Saint Pierre died near Paris, 
in the 77th year of his age. He was born at Havre de 
Grace, in the department of Lower Seine, and was the 
author of the “ Studies of Nature,” that delightful pasto¬ 
ral “ Paul and Virginia,” &c. 

22, 97. Timothy was killed at Ephesus, in Asia Minor, 
by the Pagans of that city, whom he offended by attempt¬ 
ing to prevent their idolatrous superstitions. Timothy 
was a disciple of Paul, and a native of Derbe, or rather 
of Lystra, both cities of Lycaonia.* His father was a 
Gentile, and his mother a Jewess, remarkable for her 
piety. When Paul came to Lystra, he heard such an 
excellent account of Timothy from the brethren, that he 
took him along with him; and he became extremely use¬ 
ful to the apostle in preaching the gospel. When Paul 
returned from Rome, in 64, he left Timothy at Ephesus, 
to take care of that church, of which he was the first 
bishop. The apostle wrote to him from Macedonia the 
first of the two letters that are addressed to him. And 
after Paul came to Rome, in 65, being now near his 
death, he wrote to him his second letter, which is full of 
marks of kindness and tenderness, and is justly looked 
upon as the last will of Paul. He desires him to come to 
Rome to him before winter, and to bring along with him 
several things that Paul had left at Troas.f If Timothy 
went to Rome, as it is probable he did, he must have been 
a witness there of the martyrdom of this eminent apostle.]; 
It is thought that Timothy was succeeded in his bishop¬ 
ric by Onesimus. See Onesimus and Philemon, Index. 

— 1552. Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and 
brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII., 
appointed Protector during the minority of Edward VI., 
was beheaded on an accusation of raising a rebellion. He 


* See Acts xvi. 1, and Geo. Exer. on the New Testament. 
f 2 Tim. iv. 10, 13. + See June 29, 66. 




JANUARY. 


35 


built old Somerset House in the Strand, which was pulled 
down in 1776, and the present magnificent building erect¬ 
ed on its site, after a design by Sir William Chambers. 
See June 4, 1776. 

22, 1560. Sir Francis Bacon, who brought philosophy 
from speculation to experience, was born at York House, 
in the Strand. He was the son of Sir Nicholas, and 
Anne Cooke, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, tutor to 
Edward VI. (See Rumford, Bourn’s Gazetteer.') When 
only seven years of age he was admired by Queen Eliza¬ 
beth for his sedate behaviour and his appropriate replies; 
for, on her asking him his age, he answered, “ He was 
two years younger than her Majesty’s happy reign.” See 
April 9, 1626. 

— 1800. Died at Hampstead, a delightful village near 
London,* George Steevens, an ingenious critic and 
classical scholar, who will be long rememberd as a dis¬ 
tinguished commentator on Shakspeare. He was born at 
Stepney, near the eastern part of the metropolis, in 1735. 
See February 16, 1754. 

23, 1516. Ferdinand, surnamed the Catholic, king of 
Spain, died. Being in a languid state some time previous 
to his death, he travelled from place to place, carefully, 
avoiding a town called Madrigal, where, according to his 
horoscope, he was to terminate his earthly career; but 
from the increase of his infirmities, being obliged to stop 
at the insignificant village of Madrigalejo, between Trux- 
illo and Guadaloupe, the name of which being similar to 
the one at which it had been predicted he should die, he 


* Hampstead, says the Examiner, (June 7, 1812,) has some 
delightful walks, and a set of fields and prospects which may not 
be equalled, in point of simple elegance, in many parts of the 
country. Thomson, in his Summer , has a tribute to the “ sister 
hills” of Hampstead and Highgate, which he enumerates among 
the beauties of his “ hour of walk.” Akenside, “ the Bard of 
Tyne,” was an inhabitant of Hampstead; and it was lately the 
residence of Lord Erskine, the greatest advocate which a laud 
of orators and freemen has produced. It should be mentioned 
also, that Sir Richard Steele had a cottage on the Hampstead 
Road, and that Goldsmith is said to have written his Natural 
History at a farm-house in Kilburn. Richardson appears to 
have been fond of this neighbourhood : his heroine in Sir Charles 
Grandison had an adventure at Lisson Green ; and Clarissa Har- 
lowe had lodgings at Hampstead. See Thomson, Akenside, 
Steele, and Richardson, Index $ also Hackney and Islington. 



36 


JANUARY. 


convened his ministers, gave them some advice respecting 
the kingdom, and putting on the habit of St. Dominie* 
resigned himself to death. Ferdinand is the first that can 
properly be called king of Spain, as he united the different 
parts of this kingdom. By birth he was king of Arragon 
—by marriage king of Castile—and by conquest king of 
Grenada and Navarre. He was called the wise and pru¬ 
dent in Spain; in Italy the pious; and in France and 
England the ambitious and perfidious. The title of Ca¬ 
tholic was conferred upon him by the infamous Pope 
Alexander VI., in consequence of the numerous battles 
he had fought with the Moors. See Bourn’s Gaz. Va¬ 
lencia. 

2.3, 1570. The Earl of Murray, regent of Scotland dur¬ 
ing the minority of James VI., was shot at Linlithgow, by 
Hamilton, of Bothwellhaugh, who, after the battle of 
Langside- Hill, in 156S, had been condemned to death as 
a rebel, but, at the powerful intercession of Knox, the 
reformer, obtained a pardon. Part of his estate was, how¬ 
ever, bestowed upon one of the regent’s favourites, who 
seized his house, and turned out his wife naked, in a cold 
night, into the open fields, where, before the next morn¬ 
ing, she became furiously mad. This injury made a deeper 
impression on him than the benefit he had received, and 
from that moment he vowed to be revenged on the re¬ 
gent. The assassin escaped to France. 

Historians are much divided concerning the character 
of Murray; but it is generally admitted, that his admi¬ 
nistration was extremely popular; and he was long and 
affectionately remembered among the commons, by the 
name of the good regent. 

— 1/66. Expired, at Bethnal Green, near London, Wil¬ 
liam Caslon, universally esteemed a first-rate artist in 
the art of letter-founding; his foundry in Chiswell Street 
having been one of the most capital in this, and equal to 
any in foreign countries. He was born in 1692, in that 
part of the town of Hales Owen which is situated in 
Shropshire. 


* Many Spaniards of both sexes leave orders that they shall, 
after death, be carried to the grave in the habit of some religious 
order. 

And to be sure of Paradise, 

Dying put on the weeds of Dominic, 

Or in Franciscan think to pass disguised. 

Paradise Lost, book iii. 





JANUARY. 


37 


23, 1 SOU. Expired, at his house at Putney, Surrey, that 
celebrated statesman, the Right lion. William’ Pitt, 
second son of the illustrious Earl of Chatham, born at 
Hayes, in Kent, May 28, 1/59. See Sept. 13, 1806, 
and May 11, 17/8. 

— 1820. Died, at Sidmouth, in Devonshire, after a short 
illness, originating in a cold, his Royal Highness Ed¬ 
ward Duke of Kent, fourth son of his late Majesty 
George III. He was a most noble and patriotic prince. 
He was an eloquent advocate for, and a beneficent patron 
of, the education of the poor, the distribution of the Holy 
Scriptures, and the general welfare of mankind. 

24, 76- The Emperor Adrian was born at Rome. In 

• a visit to Britain he built the famous wall which still bears 

his name. It extended from the Solway Frith to the 
river Tyne, where Newcastle now stands. The design of 
it was to secure the Romans from the incursions of the 
Caledonians. Adrian died at Baise,* in the 63rd year of 
his age, having reigned 21 years. The Latin verses which 
he addressed to his soul, have been translated by Pope. 
See the Ena/. Brit. art. Adrian, and Pope’s Works ,f 
also Bourn’s Gaz. art. Baia. 

— 1712. Frederick the Second, sometimes called the 
Third, styled Frederick the Great, was born at Berlin. 
He ascended the throne May 31, 1/40. Charles VI., 
Emperor of Germany, dying on the 20th of October fol¬ 
lowing, leaving an only daughter, Maria Theresa, Fre¬ 
derick, envying her the extensive territories left by her 
father, pretended to have a claim on Silesia, and one 
month after the death of the emperor invaded that coun¬ 
try. Various battles which ensued may be seen by con¬ 
sulting the index to Bourn’s Gaz. See August 17, 1786. 


* Baiae was a city of Campania, near Naples, and adjacent to 
the sea, and famous for its delightful situation and baths, where 
many of the Roman senators had villas; it was the winter retreat 
of the old Romans, that being the proper season to enjoy the Ba- 
jani Soles, and the Mollis Lucrinus; as, on the contrary, Tiber, 
Tusculum, Preneste, Alba, Cajeta, and the like airy situations, 
were their retirements during the heats of summer. Addison’s 
Travels, 137. 

f Adrian deified and made a constellation of Antinous. See 
the late William Butler’s Exer. on the Globes .— The city of 
Adriauople, in Turkey in Europe, and the Adriatic Sea, or Gulf 
of Venice, which is between Italy and Turkey, both received their 
names from this illustrious Emperor. 





38 


JANUARY. 


24, 1781. Expired Edward Capell, a gentleman well 
known as an enlightened editor of Shakspeare’s works, 
in 10 vols. 8vo. He was born at Troston, near Bury, in 

- Suffolk, June 11, 1/13. 

— 1793. The King of Prussia, Frederick William II., 
contrary to all the principles of national justice, took pos¬ 
session of the city of Thorn, on the Vistula. This was the 
birth-place of that eminent astronomer Copernicus. Mr. 
Wraxall had predicted, in the year 1778, that Thorn 
would be swallowed up in the Prussian Monarchy; but, 
adds that pleasing writer, whatever may be its political 
fate, the name of Thorn will always recall to the mind 
a man whose deep researches ascertained the principle, 
only surmised by antiquity, upon which rests the Newto¬ 
nian system of philosophy. Nicholas Copernicus, or Ko- 
pernic, has immortalized the place of his birth and resi¬ 
dence. The Copernican system may be briefly explained 
as that which makes the earth and the other planets revolve 
round the Sun, instead of the Sun revolving round the 
planets. It is the system of reason instead of that of folly. 
See Nov. 16, and Thorn, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

25, 36 or 37- Conversion of St. Paul. This miracu¬ 
lous event took place as Paul was travelling to Damascus, 
whither he was going to bring all those to Jerusalem 
whom he should find there believing in the name of 
Christ. After his conversion he became a most zealous 
preacher of Christianity, and the great apostle of the 
Gentiles. He was a native of Tarsus, in Cilicia,* a Pha- 
riseef by profession, and a Roman citizen. Acts xxii. 
27, 28. See June 29, 66. 

Lord Lyttelton’s small, but celebrated tract, entitled, 
“ Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. 


* See Geo. Exer. on the New Testament. 

f The Pharisees were a famous sect among the Jews, so 
called from a Hebrew word which signifies to separate or set 
apart, because they pretended to a greater degree of holiness and 
piety than the rest of the Jews. The admirable parable of the 
Pharisee and Publican is levelled agaiust spiritual pride, and 
recommends the virtue of humility. See Luke xviii. 

The Publicans were receivers of public money, and collectors 
of such taxes as were imposed on the people; an office extremely 
hateful to the Jews, who always greatly valued themselves upon 
their liberty and independence. See John viii. 33, and Geo. 
Exer. on the New Testament , by the late William Butlf.r, 4th 
edit. 



JANUARY. 39 

Paul,” is generally allowed to contain an unanswerable 
demonstration of the truth of Christianity. 

25, 1775. The American Congress ordered a monument to 
be erected, with an inscription, sacred to the memory of 
their General, Richard Montgomery, expressive of his 
amiable character and heroic achievements. See Dec. 
31, 177*5. A fine marble monument, with appropriate 
emblems, has also been raised to the memory of this 
American hero, in the new city of Washington: the in¬ 
scription upon it concludes with the following couplet: 

Montgomery fell; let 110 fond breast repine, 

The fate of Wolfe, * illustrious chief, was thine ! 

26, 1763. Charles John Bernadotte, the present King 
of Sweden and Norway, reigning under the title of Charles 
XIV., was born at Pau. He had been one of Napoleon’s 
generals. See Abo, Cuddalore, Dennevitz, Gradisca, Ju- 
terboch, Laubach, Norway, Pau, and Sweden, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer. 

— 1789. Expired Frances Brooke, a lady as remarkable 
for her virtues as for her great literary accomplishments. 
Her principal works are, “Julia Mandeville” and “Emily 
Montague,” novels; the “ Old Maid,” a series of periodi¬ 
cal papers, since collected into a volume; “ Virginia” and 
“ The Siege of Sinope,” tragedies ; two musical dramas, 
and several esteemed translations from the French. The 
domestic happiness which subsisted between Mrs. Brooke 
and her husband (who was rector of Colney, in Norfolk, 
and of St. Augustine, in Norwich, and likewise chaplain 
to the garrison of Quebec) was of the most tender and 
lasting kind; and when death put a period to his exist¬ 
ence, this most amiable woman survived him but five 
days. 

— 1820. Died at Royston, aged 76, Henry Andrews, 
who had an extraordinary genius for astronomy, and who, 
in circumstances of life but little encouraging to talent, 
evinced considerable science. He was for more than 
forty years the able computer of the Nautical Ephemeris, 
and compiler of that far-famed production, Moore’s Al¬ 
manack, published by the Stationers’ Company. The 
sale of the latter work rose, under Mr. Andrews’ care to 
430,000, copies annually. This prodigious circulation of 
Chaldcean mysteries f was owing to the astrological pre- 

* See September 13, 1759. 

f --neu Babvlonios 

Tentaris, nuineros— 

Do not try Babylonian (or Chalusean J numbers. 




40 


JANUARY. 


dictions with which the worthy calculator was required to 
till it and with which it is allowed to be filled, though 
printed for a public company, and revised and sanctioned 
at Lambeth Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury ! 
JYJr. Andrews was much esteemed for his integrity and 
talents by some of the most scientific men of his time; 
and was the coadjutor and correspondent of Drs Maske- 
lyne and Hutton. See Mon. Mag. Dec. 1820, also Exer. 
on the Globes, p. 10, 11th edit. 

26, 1823. Expired, at Berkley, in Gloucestershire, his na¬ 
tive place. Dr. Edward Jenner, who in the dregs of a 
loathsome disease found a salutary medicine, and a saving 
angel in an humble quadruped He was in his /4th year. 
See June 2, 1802, and August 11, 1809; also the late 
William Butler’s Miscel. Quest. 3rd edit. 

2/, 1795. A Proclamation was issued at the Hague, de¬ 
manding an immediate supply of provisions and clothes 
for the French troops, to the amount of a million sterling. 
See January 15, 1795. 

28, 1547. Died, at Whitehall, after a life distinguished by 
caprice, violence, and tyranny, the queen-murdering 
monarch, Henry VIII. He had reigned 37 years and 9 
months, and was interred at Windsor. He was of the 
House of Tudor, and was succeeded by “ the good young 
King” Edward VI. 

— 1596. Expired, on board his ship, near Nombre de 
Dios, in Terra Firina, Sir Francis Drake, who, as 
Fuller quaintly expresses it, “ lived bv the sea, died on 
it, and was buried in it.” This distinguished naval hero 
was the son of Edmund Drake, a sailor, and born near 
Tavistock, in Devonshire, about the year 1546. By his 
great abilities, his valour, and his enterprising spirit, 
Drake improved the art of navigation, opened the way 
to our commerce in the East, was the great author of our 
navigation in the West, gave a shock to the whole power 
of Spain, and was the first Englishman * and the first com¬ 
mander that encompassed the globe.f 

“ Live me Thersites’ son, who bravely wields 
Vulcanian armour in embattled fields, 

Before Thersites of Achilles’ line : 

Degenerate offspring of a sire divine !” 

— 1612. Expired Sir Thomas Bodley, from whom the 


* See Magellan Index ; also April 4, 1581. 

f See Hume, IIafin, Biog. Diet., and Granger’s Biog. Hist. 
0 / England. 



JANUARY. 


41 


Bodleian library at Oxford, which is the largest in Europe, 
takes its name. He was born at Exeter, March 2, 1544, 
and was employed in several embassies and negociations 
with foreign powers, by Queen Elizabeth. See Nov. 8. 

28, 1641. John Duke of Braganza, was crowned King 
of Portugal, under the title of John IV. The acceptation 
of this office he had reluctantly taken upon him, at the 
solicitation of the people and the urgent persuasion of his 
duchess. See Lisbon, Bourn’s Gazetteer- 

— 1725. Peter the Great expired at Petersburg!], in 
the 53rd year of his age, and the 29th of his reign. This 
monarch gave a new face to the Russian empire; he ren¬ 
dered it at once formidable and flourishing, by disciplin¬ 
ing his troops, by creating a powerful navy, by perfecting 
the education of the young nobility, by establishing manu¬ 
factures, giving vigour to commerce, and encouraging 
arts and sciences; in short, he gave his empire an influ¬ 
ence and importance which it never enjoyed before his 
time His character is well delineated in Thomson’s 
“ Winter.” See Ar'ith. Quest. 

— 1802. Joseph Wall, Esq , formerly governor of Goree, 
a small island near Cape Verd, Africa, was executed at 
the Old Bailey London, for the murder of Serjeant Arm¬ 
strong, who died in consequence of a punishment of 800 
lashes being inflicted on him in the year 1782, in that is¬ 
land. If any circumstances could have transpired in the 
eventful epoch of our history, calculated to disseminate a 
general respect for our excellent laws and frame of govern¬ 
ment, this is one. The people of Great Britain must per¬ 
ceive, in this stroke of retributive justice, that no personal 
interest, no family connexion, can snatch the guilty from 
legal punishment; and that, even in our distant domi¬ 
nions, our fellow-subjects are secured, by the fair admi¬ 
nistration of justice, from the cruel exertion of authority 
and the wanton abuse of power.* 

29, 1743. Died, at Issy, near Paris, Cardinal de Fleury, 
at the age of 90. He became prime minister to Louis 
XV., at the age of 75. He left the reputation of an amia¬ 
ble, but artful person, rather than a man of genius, and 
was said to have known the intrigues of a court better 
than the affairs of Europe. 

— 1774. The merits of a petition presented by the cele¬ 
brated Dr. Franklin on Amerian affairs, were heard 


* See May 5, 1760, and Arithmetical Quest, art. Equality. 



42 


JANUARY. 


before the English privy council; when Counsellor Wed* 
derburn, afterwards Earl of Rosslyn, in a speech against 
the petition, poured forth a torrent of virulent abuse on 
the Doctor. The philosopher had, however, ample re¬ 
venge on British ministers and courtiers, in the result of 
the unhappy dispute between America and Britain. See 
Versailles, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

29, 1820. Died, at Windsor Castle, in the 82d year of his 
age, and the 60th of his reign. His Majesty George 

III. , having held the sceptre of these realms a longer 
period than any other British sovereign. He was beloved 
and revered for his exemplary domestic virtues, tor his 
piety, and for his patronage of the arts and sciences. 
He was succeeded by the Prince Regent, now George 

IV. * 

30, 1649. Decollation of Charles I. Passion for 
power, says Mrs. Macauley, was Charles’s predominant 
vice; idolatry to his regal prerogatives his governing 
principle; the interests of his crown legitimated every 
measure, and sanctified in his eye the widest deviation 
from moral rule. Neither gratitude, clemency, humanity, 
equity, nor generosity, have place in the fair part of his 
character. The want of integrity is manifest in every 
part of his conduct; and this was the vice for which, 
above all others, he paid the tribute of his life. Charles, 
observes Rapin, acted with so little sincerity in his en¬ 
gagements, that there was no dependence on his word, 
and this was one of the principal causes of his ruin. To. 
the doctrine of king-killing we must, however, enter our 
most hearty protest: for whilst our constitution says that 
the king can do no wrong, and our laws proclaim that his 


* It is singular that Parliament has assembled on a Suuday, in 
consequence of the death of the sovereign, no less than three 
times during the present and the three preceding reigns ; in 
George I., on occasion of the death of Queen Anne ; in George 
III., on occasion of the death of George II.; in George IV., on 
the death of George III. It is also equally singular that the tirst 
three Edwards should have occupied a space of time exceeding a 
century, and that the reigns of the first three Georges should also 
have occupied a similar period : Edward I. ascended the throne 
November 16, 1272; Edward II. July 7, 1307; Edward III. Janu¬ 
ary 25, 1327. These three monarchs ruled England 104 years, 
7 months, and 12 days. As the reign of the late king terminated 
on Saturday the 20th of January, 1823, the time occupied by the 
reigns of the three Georges was 105 years, 5 mouths, and 29 
days. Evening Mail, December 30, 1825. . 




JANUARY. 


43 


person is inviolable, the punishment of death can never 
be inflicted on a British monarch without a subversion 
of the law and constitution. That a tyrant may be de¬ 
posed, may be readily admitted ; but deposition and exe¬ 
cution are two very distinct thing’s. The character of 
Charles was, in many respects, deserving of imitation. 
He was sober, temperate, and chaste. He abhorred de¬ 
bauchery, and could not endure a profane or obscene 
word. In his devotions he was remarkably regular and 
punctual. At the place of execution (Whitehall, near 
Charing Cross) he shewed not the least sign of fear, but 
suffered with such fortitude, that he appeared much 
greater at his death than he had ever done in any one 
scene of his life. He was buried, by the appointment of 
the Parliament, at Windsor, decently, yet without pomp. 
See Charles I. and Dumferinline, Arith. Quest.; also 
November 19, 1600. 

30, 1766. Expired Susanna Maria Cibber, who, for 
several years, was reckoned not only the best actress in 
England, but supposed by many to excel the celebrated 
Mademoiselle Clairon, of the French theatre. She was 
the daughter of Mr. Arne, an eminent upholsterer in Co¬ 
vent Garden, also sister to Dr. Arne. See March 5, 1/78. 

— 1790. The Life-Boat of South-Shields, on the Tyne, 
in the county of Durham, was first put to sea, and com¬ 
pletely answered the intention of its generous patrons. 
The appellation life-boat appears to have orignated with 
the common people of Shields, who, witnessing the unpa¬ 
ralleled success of the boat in the preservation of life, 
gave it that name in memorial of its pre-eminent utility ; 
and never was a name more appropriately bestowed; as 
the number of persons saved at the mouth of the Tyne 
alone amounts to several hundreds. Mr. Greathead, 
its inventor, received 1200/. from the House of Commons, 
besides remunerations from various societies. 

— 1826. The Menai Suspension Bridge, which con¬ 
nects Anglesea with Caernarvon, was opened for general 
intercourse at half-past one in the morning, the Holyhead 
Mail being the first carriage which passed over it. At 
nine o’clock the same morning it was crossed by Sir H. 
Parnell and Mr. Telford, the engineer, under whose direc¬ 
tion this stupendous work was constructed; and they 
were succeeded during the day by an immense number of 
the neighbouring gentry. The extreme length of the 
chains, from the fastenings in the rock, is about 1600 
feet. The roadway consists of two carriage ways, each 


44 


JANUARY. 


12 feet in breadth, with a foot-path of 4 feet between 
them. Its length between the points of suspension is 
560 feet, and its height from high-water line is 100 feet. 
The whole is suspended from four lines ot iron cables, 
and the total weight between the points of suspension is 
489 tons. 

31, 1616. Cape Horn, the most southern part of Ame¬ 
rica, was doubled by Le Maire and Schouten, who had 
sailed from the Texel in Holland, on June 14, 1615. 

— 1788. Expired of an apopletic lit, while sitting with 
some other magistrates at Manchester, Sir Ashton 
Lever. (See Deaths, sudden, Index.) He was a native 
of Alkington, near Manchester, and, being a curious col¬ 
lector, and extending his views to all branches of natural 
history, became possessed of one of the finest museums in 
the world. This incomparable collection was disposed 
of by way of Lottery, in the year 1785. See Arith Quest. 
art. Museum.—It may not, perhaps, be entirely useless. 
to remind our young readers, that the study of Nature is 
a pleasing theme of wonder and delight. Not only the 
grand and sublime, “ the broad and majestic oak/’ but 
even “ the green blade that trembles in the sun,” com¬ 
mands our admiration, and “ prompts with remembrance 
of a present God.” The inexhaustible variety and exqui¬ 
site beauty of the minor portions of creation;—beasts, 
birds, fishes, insects, plants, fossils, &c., afford to an in¬ 
genious and reflecting mind, a gratification vastly supe¬ 
rior to those dissipated, silly amusements which engage 
the attention and occupy the time of the frivolous and 
giddy part of the community. Hence to infuse an early 
relish for rational entertainment, should be a leading point 
in a liberal education; as it often proves an antidote to 
low gratifications and ignoble pursuits. See Museum, 
Index ; and Eater, on the Globes, lltli edit, art Painting. 

— 1788. Died at Florence, in Italy, Prince Charles 
Edward Stuart, son of the Old Pretender , and grand¬ 
son of James II. He is generally recognized as the ~ 
Young Pretender , or the Chevalier St. George. He spent 
the latter part of his life not only ingloriously but dis¬ 
gracefully, being abandoned to the lowest sensual indul¬ 
gences. See Feb. 4, 1716, note; also Culloden, Erisca, 
Lochaber, Morlaix, Nazaire, St., and Skye, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer , 3rd edit. 


( 45 ) 


FEBRUARY. 


Now the glad earth her frozen zone unbinds, 

And o’er her bosom breathe the western winds. 

Mrs. Barbauld’s Invitation. 

( Now shifting gales with milder influence blow. 

Cloud o’er the skies, and melt the falling snow : 

The soften’d earth with fertile moisture teems. 

And, forc’d from icy bonds, down rush the swelling streams.” 

February, tlie second month in the year, is so called 
from Februa , (derived from Februa, to purify,) a feast held 
therein, by the Romans, in behalf of the Manes of the dead, 
when expiatory sacrifices were offered, and people carried 
some little offering to the graves of the defunct. 

In ancient times, purgations had the name 

Of Februa; various customs prove the same. 

In which the tombs were also purify’d 

Of such as had no dirges when they died. 

Massey’s Ovid's Fasti. 

Thus also Virgil says, that he will offer gifts to the shade of 
the youthful Marcellus prematurely snatched from earth. 

Let me with fun’ral flowers his body strovv; 

This gift which Parents to their children owe. 

This unavailing gift , at least, I can bestow. 

Dryden’s Virgil. 

These sacrifices were either intended to render the infernal 
gods propitious to the deceased, or designed to appease the 
deceased themselves, and presented immediately to them as 
a sort of deities. 

The weather in this month is generally subject to great 
changes: though the cold begins in some degree to abate, 
frost and snow usually return for a time : hence the pointed 
observation of Shakspeare: 

You have such a February face, 

So full of frost, of storm, and cloudiness. 


46 


FEBRUARY. 


REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, 1328. Charles IV. of France, styled Le Bel , died 

at Vincennes, aged 33, after a reign of six years. His 
reign was distinguished by no great event or enterprise, 
but it was generally peaceful, and the people prospered. 
He was the third son of Philip IV., or Le Bel, and suc¬ 
ceeded to p the throne on the deaths of his brothers Louis 
X. and Philip V. His sister Isabella was the infamous 
consort of Edward II. of England. See January 20, 
and September 21, 1327. 

— 1702. Marshall Villeroy, general of the French 
and Spanish armies in Italy, was surprised in his bed at 
Cremona, a town in Milan, and taken prisoner, by the 
Imperialists under Prince Eugene. Marshal Broglio also 
experienced a similar misfortune in 1734, at Quistello, 
near Mantua. 

— 1733. Frederick Augustus I., (frequently styled 
the 2nd.*) King of Poland, died at Warsaw, according to 
Wraxall, of a mortification occasioned by a blow he gave 
himself on his foot, in stepping into his coach.f He was 
about 63 years of age at his death, and had reigned over 
Poland, with the intermission of a few years, from the 
death of Sobieski in 1696. See June 17-—He was one 
of the most illustrious examples of the different extremes 
of fortune. Three years after having been chosen King 
of Poland, he was driven from the throne by Charles 
XII. of Sweden, who gave the crown to Stanislaus Lec- 
zinski. On the defeat of that monarch at Pultowa, he 
was restored to his throne, and continued to reign till his 
death. He was regarded by the Saxons as a father, and 
by the Poles with respect. Instances of his prodigious 
strength are recorded which are almost incredible. 

— 1792. Died, in his 92nd year, the Rev. Michaiah 
Towgood, author of a work highly esteemed by Protes¬ 
tant Dissenters, entitled, “ A Dissent from the Church of 
England fully justified.” He left no good man his ene¬ 
my; and his death was attended with that sincere and 
extensive regret which can follow those only who, occu¬ 
pying useful stations, have acquitted themselves with zeal 
and fidelity. 


* Sigismund II., who died in 1753, was styled Augustus. 

t Probably in a state of inebriation. Russell’s Modern Eu¬ 
rope. 




FEBRUARY. 


47 


1, 1793. Died at Kew, in Surrey, William Aiton, au¬ 
thor of “ Hortus Kewensis,” being a catalogue of the 
plants in the Royal Gardens at Kew. He was born near 
Hamilton, in Lanarkshire, 1731. The Erica Aitoniana 
received its name in honour of Mr. Aiton. It is No. 
144, in Vol. II. of the “Botanical Cabinet;” an inge¬ 
nious and interesting work, now publishing in monthly 
numbers, byThose skilful botanists, Messrs Loddiges, 
of Hackney. The plates are engraved by that admired 
artist, Mr. George Cooke. 

2, Candlemas-Day. The feast of the purification of the 
Virgin Mary, which was formerly celebrated with many 
lights in the churches. 

— 1461. Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, Hereford¬ 
shire. Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, commanding an 
army of Lancastrians, was defeated by the Duke of York, 
son of Richard, slain at Wakefield. Owen, the father of 
Jasper, and the ancestor of the Tudor Race , was taken 
prisoner and beheaded. See the late William Butler’s 
Mis. Quest., 3rd edit.. Reign of Henry VII. 

— 1625. Charles I. was crowned at Westminster. He 
was of the Stuart line, and succeeded his father James I. 

— 1696. M T as born, at Pendeen, near St. Just, in Corn¬ 
wall, William Borlase, an ingenious and learned 
writer, who has perpetuated his name by his researches 
into the natural history of his native county. Dr. Bor¬ 
lase was the intimate friend of Pope, whom he furnished 
with many of the materials which formed his grotto at 
Twickenham. He died August 31, 1772, and was in¬ 
terred at Ludgvan, a town near Penzance, Cornwall. 

— 1799. Elizabeth Woodcock, an inhabitant of Imp- 
ington, returning home from Cambridge market, lost her 
way, through the inclemency of the weather, and being 
overwhelmed in a snow drift, continued in that deplora¬ 
ble situation nearly eight days and nights, but was at last 
discovered alive, and survived her confinement several 
months.* 

— 1824. About 20 min. past 8 p. m., the ship Fame, in 
which Sir Thomas Stamford Rallies had sailed, with his 


* Ignazio Somis, professor of physic in the university of Turin, 
published an account of three women who were buried thirty- 
seven days in the ruins of a stable, by a heavy tall of solid snow 
from the mountains, at the village of Bergemoletto, Piedmont,, in 
Italy. The event occurred March 19, 1755 ; and a translation 
of Somis’s book was published in London, in 1768. 




48 


FEBRUARY. 


family, from Bencoolen at day-light, for England, was 
discovered to be on fire, and in less than half an hour she 
was one grand mass of flame. The passengers and crew 
were providentially saved in two small boats, though the 
accident happened twenty or thirty miles from Bencoolen 
in a S. W. direction. The loss sustained by Sir Thomas 
Stamford Raffles was estimated by him at 30,000/., but 
his papers, drawings, and collection of natural history, 
occasioned his greatest regret, and may be considered as 
an irreparable loss to science and literature. 

3, Bishop Blaize. On this day the journeymen wool- 
combers, in several parts of England, have a grand pro¬ 
cession, in commemoration of this renowned bishop, who 
is reported to have discovered the art of combing wool. 
He is said to have visited England ; and St. Blazy, a small 
village south-east of Grampound, in Cornwall, is cele¬ 
brated for having been his landing-place, and from whom 
it derives its name. He was bishop of Sebastia, a city of 
Armenia, a district of Asia, adjacent to the south-east 
part of the Black Sea, and suffered martyrdom by decapi¬ 
tation in the Dioclesian persecution, in the year 289. 

— 1738. Died Sir Thomas Lombe, proprietor of the 
famous mill for silk-throwing, which, to denote its pre¬ 
eminence, is usually called The Silk-Mill; being the first 
and largest of the kind ever constructed in England; and 
it had a great influence on the commerce of the country. 
A complete model of this complex machine is deposited 
in the Tower of London. The original, brought from 
Italy, was erected at Derby. Sir Thomas Lombe received 
the sum of .£14,000 from Parliament for having thus con¬ 
tributed to the national prosperity. See Arith . Quest. 

— 1761. Expired, in the 88th year of his age, at Bath, 
Richard Nash, Esq., a native of Swansea, a commercial 
port and bathing-place in Glamorganshire, South Wales. 
Nash, in consequence of presiding over the amusements 
of Bath, was usually styled, “ King of Bathand under 
his auspices, that city not only rose suddenly to distinc¬ 
tion, but has ever since been advancing in elegance, 
splendour, and taste. His own prosperity was of long 
duration; and, if a man who supported himself by gam¬ 
bling and intrigues can be said to deserve prosperity, it 
was justly due to this celebrated character: but at length 
age and infirmities approached ; and though Horace says 
we should preserve consistency to the last, it appeared 
ridiculous to see grey hairs and decrepitude aping the 
gaiety and hilarity of youth. His admirers in consequence 


FEBRUARY. 


49 


fell off; and he lived to be sensible of the folly of a life 
devoted solely to pleasure, vanity, and pomp. He was 
buried at the expense of the Corporation, in the Abbey 
Church of Bath, with much parade and solemnity. A bust, 
with a Latin inscription, is placed to his memory. 

3, 1794. Sixteen Persons were crushed to death, in 
attempting 1 to obtain admission into the Little Theatre, in 
the Haymarket, in which the Drury-Lane company then 
performed. Among the unhappy sufferers in this melan¬ 
choly catastrophe, were the amiable and accomplished 
Somerset Herald, Mr. Charles Brooke, and his friend 
Pingo, York Herald. Affection for their Majesties, who 
that evening visited the theatre, is said to have prompted 
these gentlemen to incur the danger which brought them 
to an untimely end. 

— 1795. Expired, in the 59th year of his age, William 
Parsons, an English comic actor of the highest emi¬ 
nence. He was buried at Lee, a secluded village, near 
Blackheath, Kent; where lies also the celebrated astro¬ 
nomer, Edmund Halley, a native of Haggerstone, in 
the parish of Shoreditch, London, who died in 1742, in 
the 86th year of his age. See Halley, Index. 

4, 1194. Richrad I., who, on his return through Ger¬ 
many, from a crusade in the Holy Land, had been detain¬ 
ed as a prisoner by the Emperor, was released. His 
ransom has been stated by some historians at 150,000 
marks;* by others, at 190,000. He was confined near 
Olmutz, in Moravia, Germany. 

— 1555. Rogers, a Protestant divine, the first martyr in 
the reign of the sanguinary Mary, was burnt in Smith- 
field. 

— 1716. The Pretender, the Earl of Mar, and some 
others, embarked at Montrose, in Scotland, for France.f 
See Dec. 26, 1715, and Arith. Quest. See also Pre¬ 
tender, Index. 

— 1732. Dr. John Armstrong, a native of Castleton, in 
Roxburghshire, took his degree in physic at Edinburgh. 
He was the author of many ingenious works; but his 
“Art of Preserving Health” is generally considered as his 


* A mark was worth 135. Ad. Arithmetical Tables. 

•f' The person known in our history by the title of The Preten¬ 
der was the son of James II. The Young Pretender was the son 
of the former, and consequently the grandson of that misguided 
monarch. See April 16, 1746, and miscellaneous Quest. 

D 




50 


FEBRUARY. 


best performance. This poem contains many useful hints 
relative to air, diet, exercise, and the passions, and is de¬ 
corated with a succession of images that agreeably affect 
the imagination. 

Armstrong ! thy tones prescribe what health preserves. 
Revives the spirits, and repairs the nerves. 

Philemon. 

Dr. Armstrong died in 1779. 

4, 1746. Expired at Athelstaneford, in Haddingtonshire, 
Scotland, the Rev. Robert Blair, author of The Grave, 
which, says Pinkerton, is worth a thousand common 
poems. The language is such as Shakspeare would have 
used; yet he nowhere imitates Shakspeare, or uses any 
expression of his. It is artless and chaste; yet, upon 
occasion, highly poetical, without any appearance of re¬ 
search ; and it is said to be the best piece of blank verse 
we have, save that of Milton. Blair was an accomplished 
scholar, as well as an elegant poet. He was born in Edin¬ 
burgh in 1699, and was ordained minister of Athelstane¬ 
ford, January 5, 1731, where he passed the remainder of 
his life. He was succeeded in his living by another poet, 
Mr. John Home, the celebrated author of the tragedy of 
Douglas .*—The Grave was a posthumous publication. 

5, Augustus had conferred on him, by the Senate and 
Roman people, the flattering title of Pater Patrias, 
Father of his Country; which appellation he is said to 
have received with tears 

• 

The day in which, with one united voice, 

The Senate and the People made the choice 
Of Father of thy Country , for thy name. 

Massey's Ovid's Fasti. 

Great Prince, and Father of the state, receive 
The noblest triumphs which thy Rome can give. 

Francis’ Horace. 

— 45 B. C. Cato, a celebrated Roman patriot and Stoic 
philosopher, who considered Freedom as that which 
alone “ sustains the name and dignity of man,” unable to 
survive the independency of his country, stabbed himself 


* In connexion with Mr. Home it may be mentioned as re¬ 
markable, that he wrote his tragedy of Douglas—Dr. Hugh Blair 
wrote his Sermons—and Dr. Robertson his History of Charles V., 
in the same cottage, which is a small white one in one of the 
parks of Burntsford Links, in Scotland. 




FEBRUARY. 


51 


at Utica, near Tunis, in Africa.* By this rash act of 
suicide, independent of all moral or religious considera¬ 
tions, Cato carried his patriotism to the highest degree of 
political frenzy; for Cato, dead, could be of no use to his 
country; but had he preserved his life, his counsels might 
have moderated Caesar’s ambition, and, as Montesquieu 
well observes, have given a different turn to public affairs. 

Who kills himself, involves him in the guilt 
Of foulest murder. True, no written law 
Commands our strict forbearance ; but be sure 
The laws of nature are the laws of God ; 

And he who said, Thou shalt not murder , made 
This universal law that binds our hands 
From mischief to ourselves.——— 

Look towards Calvary, + and learn from thence. 

The noblest fortitude is still to bear 
Accumulated ills, and never faint. 

We may avoid them, if we can with honour ; 

But GOD requiring, let weak man submit. 

And drink the bitter draught, and not repine. 

Had Cato been a Christian , he had died 

By inches, rather than have ta’en the sword 

And fall’n unlike his Master. Hurdis. 

See also Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Utica. 

5, 1/82. Died, aged 78, Benjamin Martin, an inge¬ 

nious optician and globe-maker of Fleet Street, London, 
originally a schoolmaster at Chichester, Sussex. He was 
the publisher of a scientific magazine, the author of a phi¬ 
losophical grammar—Young Gentleman and Lady’s Phi¬ 
losophy, &c., &c., and at an early period of his life ac¬ 
quired considerable reputation as an itinerant lecturer in 
experimental philosophy. 

— 1783. The town of Scylla, in the south-west corner 
of Italy, was destroyed by a terrible earthquake. Nearly 
three thousand of the inhabitants, who, to save themselves 
from the falling houses at night, repaired to the beach, 
were in a moment swept into eternity by an inundation of 
the sea. About forty thousand persons perished by re- 


* See Arith. Quest. Battle of Pharsalia. 

f Calvary was a small eminence or hill adjacent to Jerusalem 
appropriated to the execution of malefactors; and was the spot 
where Jesus Christ suffered the ignominious death of crucifixion 
between two thieves. See Luke xxiii, 33, and Geog. Exer. on 
the New Test. 4th edit. 








52 


FEBRUARY. 


peated shocks in the southern parts of Italy, and in the 
neighbourhood of Messina, on the opposite coast of Sicily, 
in the months of February and March. See Arith. Quest . 
art. Scylla and Charybdis. 

5, 1/87. Died the Rev. Hugh Farmer, born in a small 
hamlet near Shrewsbury, called “ The Isle,” (being al¬ 
most surrounded by the river Severn,) in the year 1714 : 
lie finished his academical studies under Dr. Doddridge, 
at Northampton, and was interred in the churchyard at 
Walthamstow, Essex. By his death religion and learning- 
lost an able friend and advocate. His candour was ex¬ 
tensive and impartial, and few ever more happily united 
the gentleman, the scholar, and the minister of the gospel. 
See “ Memoirs of the Life of the Reverend Hugh Farmer.” 
To his vigour and acuteness, in his Dissertation on Mi¬ 
racles, we are indebted for a triumphant proof, that no 
real miracles were wrought by the magicians in Egypt, 
or by the witch of Endor.— British Critic , Jan. 1827. 

— 1799. Died at Bologna, in the north of Italy, Lewis 
Galvani, an Italian philosopher; from whom Galvanism, 
which has recently made so much noise in the philosophi¬ 
cal world, took its name. 

— 1816. Died, at Richmond, in Surrey, Richard, Vis¬ 
count Fitzwilliam, of Ireland. This illustrious noble¬ 
man left to the University of Cambridge (his Alma Mater) 
his splendid library, pictures, drawings, and engravings, 
together with ^60,000 for the erection of a museum for 
their reception and exhibition. In this valuable collec¬ 
tion there are more than 10,000 proof prints by the first 
artists; a very extensive library of rare and costly works, 
among which are nearly 300 Roman Missals finely illumi¬ 
nated. There is also a very scarce and curious collection 
of the best ancient music, containing the original Vir¬ 
ginal book of the 9th of Elizabeth, and many of the works 
of Handel, in the hand-writing of that great master; the 
■whole forms one of the most magnificent bequests ever 
made by an individual to the public. 

6, 1665. Queen Anne, the daughter of James II., and 
Anne Hyde, daughter of Edward Hyde, Earl of Claren¬ 
don, was born at St. James’s. She ascended the throne 
on the death of her brother-in-law. King William. See 
March 8, 1702. 

— 1685. Charles II. died at Whitehall. He left no le¬ 
gitimate issue, but his natural children were numerous. 
He was of the Stuart race, and was succeeded by his 
brother James II., the third, and only surviving, son of 


FEBRUARY. 


53 


Charles I. Charles II. was a profligate in private life; the 
base betrayer of his country’s honour to a foreign power; 
the enemy of civil and religious liberty; and the legalized 
murderer of innocent men. He had been in the school 
of adversity, but was too weak and corrupt to benefit by 
what has been aptly called wisdom — experience. 

6, 1804. Expired, in the 71st year of his age, at Northum¬ 
berland, Pennsylvania, North America, Joseph Priest¬ 
ley, LL. D., F. R. S., and member of many foreign lite¬ 
rary societies. On his approaching dissolution, he ex¬ 
pressed his thankfulness at being permitted to die quietly 
in his family, without pain, and with every convenience 
and comfort that lie could wish for; and dwelt upon the 
peculiarly happy situation in which it had pleased the 
Divine Being to place him in life, the great advantage he 
had enjoyed in the acquaintance and friendship of some 
of the best and wisest men of the age in which he lived, 
and the satisfaction he derived from having led a useful 
life. Desiring that John, chap, xi., might be read to him, 
he stopped the reader at the 45th verse, and dwelt for 
some time on the advantage he had derived from reading 
the Scriptures daily, and recommended this practice, ob¬ 
serving, that it would prove a source of the purest plea¬ 
sure. He afterwards addressed himself to a friend with 
great animation, saying, “We shall meet again in another 
and a better world;” and he breathed his last so easily, 
that those who were sitting close to him did not immedi¬ 
ately perceive it. In Dr. Priestley’s mental constitution 
were united ardour and vivacity of intellect, with placidity 
and mildness of temper. In the domestic relations of 
life he was uniformly kind and affectionate. Not malice 
itself could ever fix a stain on his private conduct, or im¬ 
peach his integrity. Such was the man who has added one 
more imperishable name to the illustrious dead of his 
country. He was born at Field-head, near Leeds, in 
Yorkshire. See July 14, 1791. 

7, 1788. Sydney-Cove. On this day, Governor Philip 
assumed the powers of government delegated to him, by 
publishing, at this place, the royal commission which con¬ 
stituted him Captain-General and Governor of New South 
Wales, in New Holland. Sydney-Cove is about nine 
miles north of Botany-Bay, and in nearly 34 degrees of 
south lat. See Arith. Quest. 

— 1826. Died at Bermondsey, in his 70th year, the Rev. 
John Townsend, a Dissenting Minister of considerable 
talents and distinguished piety. He was the founder of 


54 


FEBRUARY. 


the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, in the Kent Road, 
and the promoter of many other useful charities, so that 
lie has been aptly styled “the apostle of charity.” A 
marble bust, presented by the duke of Gloucester and the 
Committee of the asylum, perpetuates in the hall of this 
useful and extensive institution the memory of him who 
first had compassion on its helpless and interesting in¬ 
mates. He was interred in Bunhill Fields, Feb. 16, 1826. 
A memoir of this philanthropist has been published, and 
is highly creditable to the pen and feeling of its au¬ 
thoress. 

8, 1515. Mary, the sanguinary, was born at Greenwich. 
She was the daughter of Henry VIII. and his first wife, 
Catharine of Arragon, and ascended the throne on the 
death of Edward VI. See July 6, 1553, and Arithmetical 
Tables , p. 27* 

— 1576. Was born at Lindley, in Leicestershire, Robert 
Burton, known to the world by the name of Democritus 
Junior, which he annexed to his admired work, “The 
Anatomy of Melancholy,” a book that has had a very 
extensive sale; the ninth edition having been published in 
1800, under the superintendence of Mr. Stephen Jones. 
“ Burton upon Melancholy,” says Archbishop Herring, 
“ is an author the pleasantest, the most learned, and the 
most full of sterling sense.” 

— 1587* Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded, in the 
45th year of her age, at Fotheringay-Castle, in North¬ 
amptonshire, after an unjust and cruel captivity of almost 
nineteen years in England. She was buried in Peter¬ 
borough Cathedral; but her remains were removed on 
the accession of her son, James I., to Westminster 
Abbey. 

— 1671. Died Richard Pendrell, the preserver and 
conductor of Charles II., after his escape from the battle 
of Worcester. See Sept. 3, 1651, and Ewer, an the 
Globes , art. Robur Caroli. Pendrell was buried in St. 
Giles in the Fields, London. 

9, 1555. Hooper, bishop of Gloucester, was burnt before 
the door of his cathedral, sutfering with the greatest firm¬ 
ness in confirmation of his attachment to the cause of 
Protestantism. On the same day Dr. Rowland Taylor 
was burnt at Hadleigh, in Sutfolk, testifying the sincerity 
of his faith by his undaunted behaviour at the stake. 

— 1649. On this day was interred at Windsor, Charles 
I., who was beheaded January 30. After his execution, 
the body was removed to his room at Whitehall, and 


FEBRUARY. 


55 


embalmed. It was conveyed to Windsor, and buried in 
a vault near Henry VIII. and his wife, Jane Seymour; 
with this inscription on a fillet of lead : King Charles, 
1649. A few years ago, the bodies of Charles and of 
Henry VIII. were discovered by some workmen em¬ 
ployed in digging a vault at Windsor Chapel. That of 
Charles was found, on opening the coffin, to be in good 
preservation; in the features of his countenance could be 
recognized the celebrated portrait of that monarch by 
Vandyck ;—but a yet more convincing proof of identity 
remained—the head, on the body being lifted up, fell off! 
It had been joined to it by means of a cement. His pre¬ 
sent Majesty, then Prince Regent, was one of the few 
spectators admitted on this occasion: a spectacle so in¬ 
structive to the man, as an example of that mortality 
which equally awaits the prince and the peasant; and to 
the monarch, as an admonition, that power, when 
abused, works its own destruction. 

9, 1700. Daniel Bernouilli, a celebrated philosopher 
and mathematician, was born at Groningen, in the north 
part of the United Provinces. He died in 1/82, at Basil, 
a town on the Rhine, in the north of Switzerland. 

— 1811. Expired, in the 79th year of his age, at Flam¬ 
steed-House, in Greenvvicli-Park, near London, Dr. Mas- 
kelyne, who had been Astronomer-Royal of England 
for the long period of 46 years. See Exer. on the Globes , 
11 tli edit. 

10, 1305. Comyn was stabbed by Bruce, in the church of 

Dumfries. The former having been accused by the latter 
of having betrayed him, and reproaching him for his 
treachery, Comyn exclaimed, “ You lie !” Bruce imme¬ 
diately gave the fatal blow, and instantly fled out of the 
church where their interview had taken place. Lindsay 
and Kirkpatrick, his attendants, seeing him pale and agi¬ 
tated, anxiously asked, “ How is it with you ?” “ Ill,” 

replied Bruce; “ I doubt I have slain Comyn.” “ You 
doubt!” cried Kirkpatrick; “I will secure him;” and 
running into the church, he plunged his dagger into 
Comyn’s heart. 

— 1567. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who, on mar¬ 
rying Mary, Queen of Scots, had been, by her proclama¬ 
tion^ declared King of Scotland, was murdered. It is 
generally supposed that this tragical scene was acted by 
the contrivance of Bothwell, and with the connivance of 
the queen herself, since she soon after espoused her hus¬ 
band’s murderer. The house where Darnley slept was 


56 


FEBRUARY. 


blown up with gunpowder, so that it is uncertain whether 
he was put to death first, or perished in the ruins. This 
execrable deed was perpetrated in a lonely mansion, in 
the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, about two o’clock in 
the morning. It has been the object of late eminent his¬ 
torians either greatly to palliate the crimes, or wholly to 
rescue the memory of the unfortunate Mary from oblo¬ 
quy : Hume, Stuart, and Tytler, north of the Tweed; and 
the elegant Whitaker on this side. But as long as the 
fate of Darnleyand the queen’s connexions with Bothvvell 
are related, a shade will, we apprehend, be found to tinge 
her character, that neither art nor panegyric can effectu¬ 
ally obliterate. See May 15, 1567- 

10, 1773. Died, at Edinburgh, Dr. John Gregory, 
professor of physic, a native of Aberdeen. He was the 
author of “A Father’s Legacy to his Daughters,” and 
other moral works. 

11, 1763. Expired, at his much-admired residence, the 
Leasowes, near Hagley, in Worcestershire, William 
Shenstone, a pastoral poet and miscellaneous writer. 
(See Hagley and Hales-Owen, Bourn’s Gazetteer.) He 
was distinguished rather for elegance and delicacy of sen¬ 
timent than for the strength and fire of poetic genius. 
His Schoolmistress is reckoned the happiest effort of his 
muse. “ It is,” says that judicious critic. Dr. Aikin,* 
“ one of those poems which leave impressions not only 
pleasing, but meliorating. I know few pieces which dis¬ 
play more good sense, or a more benevolent heart.” 
Shenstone was buried in Hales-Owen Church, Shrop¬ 
shire, where he was born in 1714. A plain urn, with 
some verses by his friend, the Rev. Mr. Graves, of Claver- 
ton, commemorates his talents and virtues. 

— 179S. Stanislaus Poniatowski, ci-devant King of 
Poland, died at Petersburg!!. He was born January 18, 
1732, elected king of Poland, Sept. 7, 1764, narrowly 
escaped assassination by some of his own subjects, in 
177U and was deposed by Catharine, Empress of Russia, 
in the year 1794. See Czestoehow, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 


“ Letters to a Young Lady on a Course of English Poetry,” 
by Dr. Aikin. The discrimination evinced in this work by its 
judicious author, renders it an interesting and faithful guide for 
females to the temple of the Muses. Few productions of a simi¬ 
lar kind are so well adapted to refine their taste and direct their 
judgment while perusing the British poets. It should have a 
place in every female’s library. 



FEBRUARY. 


57 


During the whole of his reign he proved himself to be a 
patriotic monarch and an honest man. The revolution 
effected by him in 1791, by which he incurred the dis¬ 
pleasure of the ambitious Czarina,* greatly improved the 
condition of the Poles, and called forth a sublime eulo- 
gium from Burke. In 1795, Poland was completely 
subjugated, and divided between Russia, Austria, and 
Prussia. 


-Thus was an ancient state 

Struck down by sceptres—trampled on by kings: 

And fraud and rapine registered in blood, 

As Europe’s public law, e’en on the authority 
Of thrones. Shee’s Alasco, Act 1, Sc. 3 . 


11, 1821. Died at Richmond, in Surrey, aged 90, Adam 
Walker, Esq., a celebrated lecturer on natural and ex¬ 
perimental philosophy. 

12, 1542. Catharine Howard, after being Queen about 
eighteen months, was beheaded on Tower Hill. She was 
the fifth in Henry’s connubial list. Lady Rochford, her 
confidant, suffered at the same time for being privy to her 
immoral conduct. The execution of this ungrateful 
woman excited no commiseration, as she had been the 
principal instrument in the accusations against Anne Bo- 
leyn, her sister-in-law. 

— 1554. Lady Jane Gray, or Grey, and her husband 
Lord Guilford Dudley, fourth son of Dudley, Duke of 
Northumberland, were beheaded in the Tower. Lady 
Jane was executed an hour after lord Dudley. This il¬ 
lustrious lady fell a victim to the ambition of her father- 
in-law, who, on the demise of Edward VI., prevailed on 
her to suffer herself to be proclaimed Queen of England. 
Though only 17 years of age, she was eminent for piety 
and learning, being mistress of the Greek and Latin lan¬ 
guages. She was born at Bradgate, near Leicester. See 
Bourn’s Gazetteer; also Feb. 21, 1554, and August 22. 

13, 1662. Elizabeth, daughter of James I., the titular 
Queen of Bohemia, ended her unfortunate life at Leicester 
House, Leicester Square, London. The house was also 
the residence of George II., when Prince of Wales. It 
afterwards contained the magnificent collection of natural 
curiosities collected by Sir Ashton Lever, and was known 


* See “ A History of Poland,” in one volume 8vo., by Ste- 
then Jones, author of the “ New Biographical Dictionary,” 
“ Biographia Dramatica, &c., &c. 


d 3 




58 


FEBRUARY. 


| 

1 


as the Leverian Museum. See Jan. 31, 1788, and the 
late W. Butler’s Arith. Quest. , No. 598. Elizabeth 
was the wife of Frederick V., elector Palatinate, and king 1 
of Bohemia. Her youngest daughter, Sophia, was the 
mother of George I., king of England. Miss Benger’s 
Memoirs of the Queen of Bohemia . 

13, 1689. King William and Queen Mary were pro¬ 
claimed; they were crowned April 11. This event is 
styled in the British history, the Glorious Revolution; 
and King William is distinguished as the immortal de¬ 
liverer of England, Scotland, and Ireland, from Popery 
and arbitrary government. 

— 1691. Massacre of Glencoe. Glencoe is a vale in 
Argyleshire, Scotland, and noted for the inhuman mas¬ 
sacre of its unsuspecting inhabitants. Eight and thirty 
persons suffered, the greater part of whom were surprised 
in their beds, and hurled into eternity, before they had 
time to implore the Divine mercy. This horrid butchery 
was, however, never sufficiently scrutinized: nor did the 
king severely punish those who had artfully made his au¬ 
thority subservient to their own base and cruel revenge. 
(See Smollett’s Continuation of Hume.) Glencoe is 
also famous as the birth-place of Ossian, as appears from 
several passages in the poems of that bard ; and many of 
the places are accurately named and described. In the 
middle of the vale runs the stream of Cona; hence Ossian 
has been styled the “Bard of Cona.” S qq Arith. Quest . 
art. Ossian. 



— 1728. Died, at his native place, Boston, in America, 
Dr. Cotton Mather, distinguished by his learning, his 
numerous publications, and benevolent exertions in re¬ 
forming the manners and composing the differences of 
mankind. See Index. 

14, Valentine’s Day. Valentine, a Roman bishop, or, 
according to others, only presbyter of the church, was 
beheaded under Claudius II., A. D. 271. It is said, that 
on this day the birds choose their mates; whence, proba¬ 
bly, came the custom of young people choosing Valen¬ 
tines, or particular friends, on this day. 

— 1400. Richard II., a native of Bourdeaux, in France, 
was basely murdered in Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire; 
being attacked by eight persons, as is generally related, 
of whom he slew four. This manner of his death has 
been controverted, and on good evidence; it is supposed 
that the son of the victor at Cressy and Poitiers, and 
grandson oi the renowned Edward III., died of hunger. 


FEBRUARY. 


59 


thirst, and cold. See the late W. Butler’s Mis. Quest., 
3d edit., p. 50. He was buried at Langley, but afterwards 
removed to Westminster Abbey. See King’s Langley, 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

14, 1779* The celebrated circumnavigator. Captain James 
Cook, was killed at Owhyhee, one of the Sandwich 
Islands, in the Pacific Ocean. He was born at Marton, 
near Whitby, in Yorkshire, October 27,1 728. See Index, 
and Arithmetical Questions. A monument on the top of 
Earby Moor has been erected by Robert Campion, Esq., 
of Whitby, and of Earby Hall, near Stokeley, as a token 
of respect for, and admiration of, the character and la¬ 
bours of that truly great man. The foundation-stone was 
laid by him on the 12th of July, 1827, being the anniver¬ 
sary of the day on which Captain Cook commenced his 
last voyage, and also of the birth of the founder. It was 
finished on the 27th of October, 1827, being Captain 
Cook’s birth-day, and wanting only one year of a cente¬ 
nary. 

— 1780. Died that illustrious lawyer. Sir William 
Blackstone, author of a celebrated work, entitled, 
“ Commentaries on the Laws of England,” in which the 
unrivalled wisdom and equality of English jurisprudence 
are most ably delineated. He was born in Cheapside, 
London, July 10, 1723. 

— 1797. Sir John Jervis, the late Earl St. Vincent, ob¬ 
tained a signal victory over the Spanish fleet, oft' Cape St. 
Vincent, Portugal. This distinguished officer died at 
Rochetts, near Brentwood, Essex, in 1823, and was in¬ 
terred at Stone, in Staffordshire. See March 15, 1823; 
Butler’s Mis. Quest., 3d edit. 

15, 1637- Ferdinand II., Emperor of Germany, ended 
his boisterous career at Vienna, after a reign of eighteen 
years, always disturbed by intestine or foreign wars. By 
the Roman Catholics he is regarded in the light of a saint 
adorned with every virtue, while the Protestants represent 
him as a sanguinary despot, no less inimical to religious 
toleration than to civil freedom. His bigotry and super¬ 
stition induced him to persecute with inquisitorial severity 
all who questioned the infallibility of the Roman pontiff, 
or preferred the evangelical simplicity of the primitive 
church to the idolatrous pomp of the Vatican, and incited 
him to carry on a war the most disastrous of any that ever 
desolated Europe. 

— 1695. The day on which King William, on his return 


60 


FEBRUARY. 


turn from Richmond, in Surrey, was to have been assas¬ 
sinated. See Smollett’s Contin. of Hume. 

15, 1708. Died, at Hereford, where he was interred in the 
Cathedral, John Philips, author of the “ Splendid 
Shilling,” “ Cider,”* and other admired poems. He was 
born at Bampton, in Oxfordshire, Dec. 30, 1676. See 
Arith. Quest, art. Splendid Shilling. 

— 1732. Died in exile at Paris, whither he was banished 
for corresponding with the Pretender, Francis Atter- 
bury, Bishop of Rochester, a celebrated poet, controver¬ 
sial and political writer. He was born in 1662, at Mid¬ 
dleton, near Newport-Pagnel, in Buckinghamshire. His 
body was brought to England, and interred in Westmin¬ 
ster Abbey. See June 18, 1723. 

16, 1497. W as born at Bretten, in the palatinate of the 
Rhine, Germany, Philip Melanctiion, a celebrated 
divine, coadjutor with Luther in the Reformation,f and 
one of the wisest and greatest men of his age. He ab¬ 
horred party-spirit and violence, yet was a decided Re¬ 
former. He composed the famous Confession of Augs¬ 
burg, which remains to this day a monument of his 
judgment and eloquence. He died April 19, 1560, and 
was buried at Wittemberg, near his friend Luther. 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1754. Expired Dr. Richard Mead, a most distin¬ 
guished physician ; whose abilities and eminence in his 
profession, united with his learning and fine taste for 


* Philips’s “ Cider,” is a didactic poem, describing the process 
of making cider. The poems legitimately didactic are those in 
which verse is gravely and methodically employed in teaching 
some art or science. Virgil’s “ Georgies,” and Dyer’s “ Fleece, ,r 
are of this class. 

f To some of our young readers it may, perhaps, be useful to 
state, that when the term Reformation is used in any absolute 
sense, and especially in reference to our own country, it means 
the reformation of religion from Popery to Protestantism.—So 
the word Conquest , when employed in the same manner, means 
the conquest of England by William the Conqueror.—The Inter¬ 
regnum or Commonwealth , the period between the decollation of 
Charles I. and the reinstatement of Charles II.—The Restoration , 
the accession of Charles II. to the Crown.—The Abdication , the 
resignation of James II.—The Revolution, the happy change of 
government which took place when William III., of glorious 
memory, was, by the voice of the people, called to the throne of 
England, as successor of James II. 



FEBRUARY. 


61 


those arts which embellish and improve human life, long 
rendered him an ornament not only to his own profession, 
but to the nation and age in which he lived. It was under 
the auspices of Dr. Mead that Inoculation for the Small 
Pox was first introduced into this country. The experi¬ 
ment was successfully tried upon seven condemned crimi¬ 
nals in London, A. D. 1721. The admired author of the 
“ Night Thoughts,” speaking of himself, has borne the 
following flattering testimony to Dr. Mead’s medical 
skill— 

“ Alive by miracle ! or, wliat is next, 

Alive by Mead.” 

Pope also highly esteemed and loved this worthy man, 
whose unaffected humanity and benevolence stifled much 
of that envy which his eminence in his profession would 
otherwise have drawn out. 

I’ll do what Mead and Cheselden* advise, 

To keep those limbs and to preserve those eyes. 

Pope. 

It was said of him after his death, that of all the phy¬ 
sicians who had ever lived, he had gained the most, spent 
the most, and enjoyed the highest fame during his life¬ 
time. Dr. Mead was the son of a celebrated Dissenting 
Minister of Stepney, where he was born August 11, 1673, 
and was buried in the Temple Church. See January 
22, 1800. 

16, 1706. Amboyna, a noted spice-island in the East In¬ 
dies, formerly belonging to the Dutch, capitulated to the 
English, who relinquished it at the peace of Paris, in 
18i4. See Ariih. Quest. 10th edit. 

— 1826. Died, at Holdgate, near York, Lindley Mur¬ 
ray, author of a well-known Grammar. He was a native 
of America; and his father was a member of the respect¬ 
able Society of Friends, f He was induced to visit En¬ 
gland for the benefit of his health, the bracing air of 
Yorkshire having been recommended for his complaint, 
and the tedium of his protracted illness was alleviated by 
the composition of several instructive and valuable works. 

17, -Was observed at Rome the Feralia, a festival 

kept in honour of the dead. Presents were taken by the 


* See April 10, 1752. 

f For a succinct account of this religious sect, see the late 
William Butler’s Exer. on the New Testament, 4th edit. 





FEBRUARY. 


62 


hand of affection and piety, to the graves of the deceased. 
Ovid’s account of this ceremony in the second book of 
the Fasti, is very pleasing: 

Tombs have their honours too : our parents crave 
Some slender present to adorn their grave. 

Slender the present which the ghosts we owe ; 

Those powers observe not what we give, but how ;* 

No greedy souls disturb the happy seats below; 

They only ask a tile with garlands crown’d, 

And fruit and salt to scatter on the ground. 

The day after the Feralia was the Charistia, or Fes¬ 
tival of Love, when all the relations in every family met 
together, and held a feast. 

Next day the social kindred feast is held, 

In which relations join, Charistia called; 

For as we in the tombs have made a stay, 

’Tis some relief to rise to cheerful day ; 

And having been where death and darkness reign, 

We’re pleas’d to see our living friends again. 

1/, 1461. The second Battle of St. Albans, was fought 
on Bernard’s Heath, when Queen Margaret defeated the 
Earl of Warwick, and freed her husband from captivity. 
See March 4, 1461, and April 14, 14/1. In this engage¬ 
ment Sir John Grey, whose widow was married by Ed¬ 
ward IV., was slain. 

— 1563. Died at Rome, the illustrious Michael An¬ 
gelo, a man of most extraordinary acquirements, since 
he obtained superlative eminence in the several depart¬ 
ments of painting, sculpture, and architecture. He esta¬ 
blished it as a principle, that to live in credit was enough, 
if life was virtuously and honourably employed for the 
good of others and the benefit of posterity. He had a 
detestation of worthless characters, and an equal con¬ 
tempt of riches. His maxim was, 

Che’l tempo h breve e’l necessario poco; 

which Goldsmith has thus neatly expressed in his Edwin 
and Angelina: 

“ Man wants but little here below ; 

Nor wants that little long.” 

It appears also, that he was a pious character; for he 



* The original in this line is also well rendered by Massey: 

A little gift departed ghosts receive ; 

A pious mind is what they chiefly crave. 





FEBRUARY. 


63 


undertook, purely from devotional feelings, the office of 
superintending the building of St. Peter’s at Rome; which 
he prosecuted with religious zeal for several years, gratu¬ 
itously. The following sonnet, written in his 83rd year, 
likewise manifests his serious turn of mind: 



Well nigh the voyage now is overpast, 

And my frail bark, through troubled seas and rude, 
Draws near that common haven, where at last 
Of ev’ry action, be it evil or good, 

Must due account be rendered. Well I know 
How vain will then appear that favoured art, 

Sole idol long and monarch of my heart;* 

For all is vain that man desires below. 

And now remorseful thoughts the past upbraid, 

And fear of twofold death my soul alarms, 

That which must come, and that beyond the grave. 
Picture and sculpture lose their feeble charms ,f 
And to that Love Divine I turn for aid. 

Who from the cross extends his arms to save. 


At last, worn out by age, and disgusted by a series of 
ill treatment, he was attacked with a slow fever, which 
terminated his mortal career in the 89th year of his age; 
having been born in the castle of Caprese, in Tuscany, 
March 6, 1474. See Duppa’s Life of Michael Angelo. 
He was buried with great pomp at Florence. See Bourn’s 
Gazetteer. 

17, 1571. An earthquake, in Herefordshire, removed Mar- 
cley Hill, S. E. of Hereford, to a considerable distance 
from where it stood. It continued in motion two or three 
days, and either carried away or overturned every thing 
which impeded its progress. The ground thus moved 
was about 26 acres. Speed and Camden. 

In 1583, a similar prodigy happened in Dorsetshire. 
Stow’s C/iron. 

The sylvan scene 

Migrates uplifted ; and, with all its soil, 

Alighting in some distant fields, finds out 
A new possessor. 

Cowper. 


* When asked why he did not marry, he answered, that 
“ Painting was his wife, and his works were his children.” See 
Arilh. Quest, art. Epaminondas. 

f See bacon, John, Index. 



64 


FEBRUARY. 


Philips, in his “ Cider,” thus notices the removal of 
Marcley Hill: 

1 nor advise nor reprehend the choice 
Of Marcley Hill; the apple no where finds 
A kinder mould : yet *tis unsafe to trust 
Deceitful ground : who knows but that once more 
This mount may journey, and, his present site 
Forsaking, to thy neighbour’s bounds transfer 
The goodly plants,* affording matter strange 
For law debates ? If therefore thou incliue 
To deck this rise with fruits of various tastes. 

Fail not by frequent vows to implore success : 

Thus piteous Heav’n may fix the wand’ring glebe. 

17/16/3. Died at Paris, the place of his nativity, Mo- 
liere, a famous comedian, and styled by Voltaire “ the 
best comic poet that ever lived in any nation.” He was 
seized with death in his 53rd year, whilst acting in the 
character of a sick man, in “ Le Malade Imaginaire,” 
one of his own plays.f See August 2, 1/98. 


* And settle on a new freehold. 

As Marcley Hill hath done of old. Hudibras. 

f The same part, it is said, proved fatal to the actor who suc¬ 
ceeded him. It has beeu asserted, that fictitious sufferings some¬ 
times lead to real infirmities, and sometimes to death. Pliny 
relates a story of a player who imitated the gout so naturally, as 
at length to bring the disorder upon him ! and Madame Clairon, 
the famous French actress, accounted for her premature growing 
old in appearance, by the influence of her griefs and distresses 
with which she had been constantly overwhelmed, year after 
year, on the stage. This celebrated woman, however, had her 
life protracted far beyond the usual period of existence ; and in 
the 80th year of her age she delighted Mr. Kemble, who paid her 
a complimentary visit, with a most energetic recitation of one 
of the scenes of Phaedra. She died at Paris shortly after Mr. K’s 
visit. 

Madame Clairon was always a favourite actress of our un¬ 
rivalled Garrick ; he saw her when she was in the dawn of her 
reputation, when he paid his first visit to Paris, in 1752 ; and he 
then ventured to pronounce that she would excel all competitors. 
When he was last in that city, in 1765, she had, in the opinion 
of the public, fulfilled his prediction. The highly entertaining but 
friendly contest between Mr. Garrick and Madame Clairon, in 
their professional character, in the year just mentioned, is related 
in Davies’s Life of Garrick, Vol. II. chap. 35, edit. 1808. 

Mr. Bond, translator of Buchanan’s History, yielded himself 




FEBRUARY. 


65 


17, 1720. Died John Hughes, an English poet, dramatic 
author and essayist, born at Marlborough, in Wiltshire, 
Jan. 29, 1677- He wrote several papers in the Tatler, 
Spectator, and Guardian, several dramatic pieces, and 
translated that part of the Phenomena of Aratus, quoted 
by Paul, Acts xvii. 28. See Geo. Ever, on the New Tes¬ 
tament , 4th edit. 

Hughes’s last work was “ The Siege of Damascus,” a 
tragedy, and it is a grave reflection on the vanity of hu¬ 
man pursuits, that the author expired on the very night 
that his tragedy was performed with the most splendid 
success. Lit. Gaz July, 1824; Jones’s Biog. Dram. 

— 1775. Mr. Forster, who went round the world with 
Captain Cook, saw the aurora borealis in 58 degrees 
of south latitude, though it appeared with phsenomena 
somewhat different from ours in the northern hemisphere. 
Before the fact had been thus ascertained, it had been a 
long time matter of doubt whether this meteor ever made 
its appearance in the southern hemisphere. See Exer¬ 
cises on the Globes. 

18, 1478. George, Duke of Clarence, brother to Ed¬ 
ward IV., was drowned in the Tower. The only favour 
granted to him by the king after his condemnation, was 
the choice of his death ; and he chose to be privately im¬ 
mersed in a butt of Malmsey: a whimsical election, which, 
as Hume observes, implies that he had an extraordinary 
passion for that liquor. He was buried in the Abbey 
Church of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. 

—1546. Expired, in the 63d year of his age, at Eisleben, 
his birth-place, Martin Lijti-ier, the indefatigable Re¬ 
former, by whose unwearied labours, aided by his great 
learning, the absurdities and superstitions of the Romish 
Church were completely exposed, and the Reformation 
introduced into Germany. This excellent man was buried 
with great funeral pomp at Wittemberg on the Elbe, in 
Upper Saxony. The other principal Reformers were 
Wickliffe, Tyndale, Calvin, Melancthon, Erasmus, Zuin- 
glius, Huss, Jerome of Prague, Zisca, and Knox. 

— 1645. Died, in the Fleet Prison, London, Sir Richard 


up so to the force and impetuosity of his imagination, when act¬ 
ing the character of Lusignan, in Hill’s Zara, that on the disco¬ 
very of his daughter he fainted away, and soon closed his eyes 
for ever. Jones’s Biog. Dram. 



66 


FEBRUARY. 


Baker, author of the “ Chronicle of the Kings of En¬ 
gland.” He was horn at Sissinghurst, in the parish of 
Cranbrook, south of Maidstone, in Kent.* 

18, 1653. A memorable naval engagement commenced 
between the English and Dutch oil Portland Island, Dor¬ 
setshire. The battle continued for three days, and the 
English destroyed eleven Dutch men of war, and thirty 
merchantmen. Van Tromp was admiral of the Dutch, 
and Blake of the English. 

19, The sun enters into the constellation X, pisces. See 
Exer. on the Globes. 

— 1593. Prince Henry Frederic, son of James VI. of 
Scotland, and afterwards Prince of Wales, was born at 
Stirling. See Nov. 6, 1612. 

— 1806. Died in London, the learned Elizabeth Car¬ 
ter, a native of Deal, in Kent. See Dec. 17, 1717* 

‘20, 1712. The marriage of the Czar Peter and the cele¬ 
brated Catharine was publicly solemnized, with great 
pomp, at Petersburgh. Their union had before been 
secretly performed at Jawerof, or Jaworow, near Lem¬ 
berg, in Poland. 

— 1737. The devotional Mrs. Rowe, whose writings ex¬ 
cite to the practice of the most generous benevolence and 
heroic virtue, was found dead on her knees. This event 
occurred in the 63d year of her age, at Frome, in Somer¬ 
setshire, her native county; having been born at Ilches- 
ter, where her father, the Rev. Walter Singer, was a Dis¬ 
senting minister. Having in early life published a small 
volume of poetry, entitled, “ Poems on several Occasions, 
by Philomela,” she has been frequently designated by the 
term Philomela, or the British Philomel. 

Blest shade ! how pure a breath of praise was thine. 

Whose spotless life was faultless as tny line ; 

In whom each worth and every grace conspire, 

The Christian’s meekness and the poet’s fire. 

Learn’d without pride, a woman without art; 

The sweetest manners, and the gentlest heart. 

Mrs. Barbauld. 

See Ilchester, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1820. Died Arthur Young, Esq., an eminent writer 
on subjects of rural economy, and a practical agricultur- 


* The word hyrst , herst, or hurst , formerly signified a wood, 
or grove. It forms the terminating syllable in the names of 
many places in Kent and Sussex. 



FEBRUARY. 67 

ist. He was a native of Bradfield, near Bury St. Edmund’s, 
in Suffolk. 

21, 1437- James the First of Scotland was traitorously 
slain at Perth, while at supper in the Dominican convent, 
thirteen years after his deliverance from England. His 
consort, Joan Beaufort, eldest daughter of John, the first 
duke of Somerset, regardless of her own life, threw her¬ 
self between the king and the swords of his assassins, and 
received two wounds. James was the first of the Stuarts. 
See note, Dec. 30, 1/65; and Bourn’s Gazetteer , Flam- 
borough, Perth, and Rothsay. 

— 1554. The Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane Gray’s 
father, was beheaded. See Feb. 12, 1554. 

— 1797. The island of Trinidad, the most southerly of 
the West-India Islands, was taken by the English, who 
also captured two and burnt three Spanish ships in the 
harbour. It is still in our possession. 

22, 1721. Died David the Second, king of Scotland, 
and was buried in the church of the Abbey of Holyrood. 
He was a weak and capricious prince, violent in his re¬ 
sentments and habitually under the influence of unworthy 
persons; and though a veil is thrown over his faults by 
contemporary historians, posterity will regard him as a 
degenerate son of the great deliverer of the nation. 

— 1723. Was born at Tynton, in Glamorganshire, South 
Wales, the celebrated Dr. Richard Price. He was the 
son of the Rev. Rice Price, who was for many years pas¬ 
tor of a congregation of Dissenters at Bridgend, in the 
same county. &ee April 19, 1791. 

— 1756. Was born at Nottingham, that elegant and pro¬ 
found scholar, Gilbert Wakefield. See September 9, 
1801. 

— 1785. Died at North-Church, Herts, Peter, known by 
the name of the Wild Boy, having been found wild in 
the forest of Hertswold, near Hanover, in Germany, in 
1725, when he was thought to be about twelve years old. 
In the following year he was brought to England, and the 
ablest masters were provided for him ; but proving inca¬ 
pable of speaking, or of receiving instruction, a comforta¬ 
ble provision was made for him at a farm-house in the 
above parish, where he continued to the end of his inof¬ 
fensive life. Some have imagined that he was an idiot, 
purposely put in the way of George I., in the forest where 
he was discovered. 

— 1806. Expired in London, the very day on which he 


68 


FEBRUARY. 


had completed his 65th year,* * * § James Barry, who has 
left to the present and to the succeeding' generations of 
British artists, a legacy of memorable examples of the 
wonderful effects of unremitting perseverance. His paint¬ 
ings, which were executed with the sole view of proving 
what opportunities had been lost, and what Englishmen 
were capable of achieving, display the sublimest effusions 
of the human mind, directed to the inculcation of sound 
morals, so essential to the elevation and dignity of man. 
His principal performances were a series of Epic paint¬ 
ings, and of Attic conceptions, which depict the origin 
and progress of human culture, through its varied com¬ 
binations, to the final retribution of beatitude or misery.f 
Placed on the walls of the AdelphiJ Society for the En- 


* It is remarkable, that the same peculiar occurrence of dying 
on the anniversary of his birth, happened also to one of the most 
celebrated artists of former times, viz. to Raphael Sanzio, d’Ur- 
bino, in the year 1520, at the early age of 37. 

Swift as the comet cleaves th’ ethereal way, 

As bright his lustre, and as brief his day, 

Urbino rising to the raptured eye, 

Appear’d, and blazed, and vanish’d from the sky. 

Shee’s Elements of Art, Canto iii. 

Raphael is by some styled the Prince of Painters. Urbino is 
situated east of Florence, in Italy. King Attalus and Plato died 
on the anniversary of their respective birth-days; and Pompey, 
according to Plutarch, was murdered in the 50th year of his age, 
the very next day after that of his birth; and Shakspeare died on 
his natal day. 

f These fine pictures are designed to illustrate this maxim, 
“ That the attainment of happiness, individual and public, de¬ 
pends on the cultivation of the human faculties.”—The first re¬ 
presents mankind in a savage state, with its attendant misery ;— 
the second, a Grecian harvest-home, or a thanksgiving to Ceres 
and Bacchus;§—the third, the Victors at the Olympic Games ;\\— 
the fourth, Navigation; —the fifth, the Society of Arts, &c.;—and 
the last, Elysium,*\ or the state of final retribution. 

X This elegant and commodious edifice is situated in John Street, 
in the Adelphi. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Ma¬ 
nufactures, and Commerce, was instituted in 1753. The idea was 
suggested by Mr. William Shipley, an ingenious artist, and eagerly 


§ See Exer. on the Globes. || See Arlth. Quest, art. Olives, 

f See Exer. on the Globes. 




FEBRUARY. 


69 


couragement of Arts, &c., they are in every respect ap¬ 
propriate to their situation; and they form a work which, 
for its unique combination of mental and manual powers, 
would have been recognized with unbounded approbation 
in the best ages of antiquity. To the credit of that Socie¬ 
ty, to which lie had been an uncommon ornament, his re¬ 
mains were placed in their apartments in all the state of 
funeral grandeur, surrounded by his immortal produc¬ 
tions ; a spectacle of the most impressive nature ! From 
thence the corpse was conveyed to St. Paul’s Cathedral, 
and deposited between the remains of Sir Christopher 
W ren and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Barry was a native of 
Cork, came from Dublin to London, and visited Rome 
under the patronage and at the expense of the celebrated 
Edmund Burke. In 1777, he was elected Royal Acade¬ 
mician, and in 1786, appointed Professor of Painting to 
the Royal Academy; but in 1799 1 , he was removed from 
his office, and soon after expelled from that celebrated 
society, whose fame he had long supported by the elegant 
labours of his pencil, and the animated language of his 
lectures ! 

23, 1725. Mason, an excellent poet, was born at Hull, and 
celebrated his last birth-day in the following lines: 

In the long course of seventy years and one. 

Oft have I known, on this my natal day, 

Hoar frost and sweeping snow prolong their sway, 

The wild winds whistle, and the forests groan; 

Blit now Spring’s smile has veiled stern Winter’s frown; 
And now the birds, on every budding spray, 

Chauut orison's, as to the morn of May. 

Perennial Calend ., p. 74. 

See April 5, 1797- 

— 1792. Expired, at his house in Leicester Fields, Lon¬ 
don, Sir Joshua Reynolds, a most eminent painter, and 
many years President of the Royal Academy.* * He was 
the founder and glory of the British School of Paint¬ 
ing ; and was often styled the <! British Apelles.” 
In portrait, says a modern writer, he was what Raphael 
was in history’—the painter of grace, dignity, and cha¬ 
racter. 


patronized by the late Lord Folkstone, and the late Lord Romney. 
Premiums are given by the Society, to promote excellence in the 
several objects of the institution; and the transactions of the So^ 
defy are published annually. 

* See June 4, 1776. 



70 


FEBRUARY. 


Reynolds ! consummate was thy skill ; 

Well pleased thy power we trace, 

Each portion of thy art to fill— 

Resemblance, colouring, grace. 

Mrs. H. More. 

Of his character and talents the following lines by Gold¬ 
smith are briefly yet strongly expressive : 

“ Here Reynolds is laid; and to tell you my mind, 

He has not left a wiser or better behind : 

His pencil was striking, resistless, and grand; 

His manners were gentle, complying, and bland. 

Still born to improve us in every part; 

His pencil our faces—his manners our heart.” 

Sir Joshua Reynolds was born at Plympton, a town 
five miles from Plymouth, in Devonshire, July 16, 1723, 
and buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral, where a statue is erect¬ 
ed to his memory. Most of his exquisitely tasteful works 
were displayed in the year 1813, at the British Gallery in 
Pall Mall, to the high gratification of every lover of the 
art.* 

23, 1800. Expired, at Wickham, a town somewhat north of 
Portsmouth, Hants, Dr. Joseph Warton, a learned di- 


* The British Gallery, belonging to the British Institution, 
was opened the 18th of January, 1806. This useful and public- 
spirited establishment is designed to promote the fine arts in the 
United Kingdom, by exhibiting the performances of eminent mas¬ 
ters to the rising generation of painters, for their emulation and 
imitation. Take, for example, the year 1814, when upwards of 
200 pictures, by those celebrated artists, Hogarth, Gainsborough, 
Wilson, and Zoffani, attracted the attention of an admiring public 
to the British Gallery. The directors of this Institution, moreover, 
offer premiums annually for the encouragement of young artists, 
aud, occasionally, make handsome presents : Mr. Haydon, for 
instance, received a hundred guineas, voted to him as a proof of 
their approbation of his charming picture of the Judgment of So¬ 
lomon. This extraordinary performance was purchased by two 
Devonshire gentlemen, who presented it to the magistrates of 
Plymouth, to be held by them and their successors as trustees 
for the inhabitants, who may thus for centuries to come have the 
pleasure of possessing and contemplating a work of genius exe¬ 
cuted by their townsman, which does very high honour to the 
British School.—It is to be hoped, says the Examiner, that the 
plan of presenting fine Historical Pictures to Public Bodies, for 
the purpose of national ornament, will be taken up, as it is the 
one best calculated for improving the general taste, and for pro¬ 
ducing great works of art. 



FEBRUARY. 


71 


vine, and an ingenious poet; author of numerous poems, 
and “ An Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope.” 
He also published an edition of Pope’s works. He was 
born at Dunsfold, in Surrey, about the year 1722. 

Thomas Warton, poet-laureat,* and brother of the 
preceding, was a very celebrated biographer, annotator, 
antiquary, and poet, born at Basingstoke, Hants. His 
chef-d'oeuvre was a “ History of English Poetry.” He 
died in 1 /DO, and was succeeded in the laureatship by 
Henry James Pye, Esq., descendant of the ever-memo- 
rable patriot John Hampden. Mr. Pye himself died in 
1813; and Dr. Southey, a poet of distinguished merit, 
now wears the Laureate wreath. 

24, Feast of St. Matthias. This apostle was first in the 
rank of our Saviour’s disciples, and one of those who con¬ 
tinued with him from his baptism to his ascension. It is 
very probable that he was of the number of the seventy ; 
but we have no authentic particulars of his youth or edu¬ 
cation. After the ascension of our Lord, he was chosen 
by the disciples at Jerusalem to fill up the place of the 
traitor Judas, and was from that time associated with the 
eleven apostles : see Acts i. 15—26. The Greeks believe 
that St. Matthias disseminated the gospel and died in 
Colchis, near the eastern part of the Black Sea.f That 
he travelled eastward, was a successful minister, and suf¬ 
fered martyrdom, is generally believed ; but the manner 
of his death is not certainly known, though it is supposed 
he was stoned and then beheaded with a battle-axe; which 
warlike instrument forms a concomitant emblem of this 
disciple in graphic representations. It is said that he was 
a native of Bethlehem. 

— 1302 or 1303. Three battles were fought at Roslin, 
six miles S. W. of Edinburgh, between the English and 
the Scots, when the former were defeated. 

— 1308. King Edward II. and his Queen Isabella 
were crowned at Westminster. Edward was of the Plan- 
tagenet line. 

— 1500. The celebrated Charles V., Emperor of Ger¬ 
many, was born at Ghent, in the Netherlands. He was 
the eldest son of Philip, Archduke of Austria, and of 
Joanna, Queen of Castile, only daughter of Ferdinand 
and Isabella. Charles succeeded his maternal grandfather 


* See Arith. Quest. 10th edition, and Laureat, Index, 
t See Exer. on the Globes, art. Aries, and Argo Navis. 



72 


FEBRUARY. 


on the throne of Spain in 1516,* and was elected Em¬ 
peror of Germany about two years afterwards on the 
death of his paternal grandfather, Maximilian I.f 

24, 1525. Was fought the celebrated battle of Pavia, in 
the district of Milan, Italy, between the French and Im¬ 
perialists ; when the former were defeated, and their king, 
Francis I., after fighting with heroic valour, and killing 
seven men with his own hand, was at last obliged to sur¬ 
render himself prisoner. The unfortunate monarch wrote 
to his mother, Louisa of Savoy, Regent of the kingdom in 
his absence, the melancholy news of his captivity, con¬ 
ceived in these dignified and expressive terms : Tout est 
perdu, Madame, hormis Vhonneur.\ He was detained a 
year and twenty days. See March 18, 1526. 

25, 1601. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, who had been 
long one of Queen Elizabeth’s chief favourites, was be¬ 
headed privately in the Tower, for treasonable practices, 
in the 34th year of his age. Some of his associates were 
shortly after executed at Tyburn, particularly Merrick, 
his steward, and Cuff, his secretary, both men of great 
parts, especially the latter, who was a celebrated wit and 
excellent scholar. The Earl was born at Nethenvood, 
near Bromyard, in Herefordshire, E. from Leominster, 
on the borders of Worcestershire. 

■— 1723. Died, in the 91st year of his age, that most illus¬ 
trious English architect, Sir Christopher Wren, who 
erected a greater number of magnificent buildings than 
were ever produced by any other man. After the fire of 
London, he was appointed surveyor-general for rebuilding 
the public edifices, and the Metropolis rose, under his 
auspices, like a Phoenix from the flames. 

Thou in our wonder and astonishment 
Hast built thyself a live-long monument. 

Among these are St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Monument, 
and St. Stephen’s, Walbrook: this last is deemed his mas¬ 
ter-piece, the inside being uncommonly beautiful. Sir 
C. Wren was born at Knoyle, a place situated near Hin- 


* See January 23. f January 12, 1519. 

X The famous King of Prussia adopted and repeated this noble 
sentiment, upon occasion of the memorable defeat of his troops 
at Schweidnitz, in Silesia, and the garrison being taken by Lau- 
dohn, the celebrated Austrian general, in 1757. See Dr. 
'Powers’s Life of the King of Prussia, and the Ann. Reg. for the 
year 1761 ; also October 1, 1761. 



FEBRUARY. 73 

don, and to the west of Salisbury, in Wiltshire. He was 
buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

26, 1723. Died Thomas D’Urfey, more generally spoken 
of by the familiar name of Tom. He wrote many drama¬ 
tic pieces, which were well received by the public; but 
his greatest reputation was obtained by his songs, satires, 
and irregular odes. His wit and facetious manners caused 
him to be familiarly noticed by Charles II.* He was born 
at Exeter, in 1628, and was buried in St. James’s Church, 
Westminster, after having for several years been greatly 
embarrassed in his circumstances. 

— 1802. Expired, at his house in the New Road, Padding¬ 
ton, near London, the Rev. Alexander Geddes, LL.D., 
a man of no common character; as those who had op¬ 
portunities of appreciating the qualities of his head and 
heart bear testimony, not only to his superior talents and 
high attainments, but to his amiable and manly virtues. 
He officiated for many years as a priest among the Ca¬ 
tholics in his native country; but having acquired very 
early a liberal turn of mind, he formed an intimacy with 
the Protestants, for which he was at first reproved by his 
own bishop, and at length deposed from the pastoral 
office; a circumstance that occasioned his removal to the 
Metropolis in 1780. Dr. Geddes was born in the year 
1737, of parents who derived their livelihood from a small 
farm in the county of Banff, Scotland. He was buried, 
according to his own wish, in Paddington churchyard. 
A list of his works may be seen in the Memoirs of Dr. 
Geddes, by Dr. Mason Good. 

27, 1706. Died, in the 86th year of his age, John Eve¬ 
lyn, Esq., one of the greatest natural philosophers that 
England ever produced. He was interred at his native 
place, Wotton, two miles from Dorking, in Surrey. An 
inscription upon his tomb expresses, according to his own 
intention, that “ living in an age of extraordinary events 
and revolutions, he had learned from thence this truth, 
which he desired might be communicated to posterity : 
That all is vanity which is not■ honest; and that there is no 
solid wisdom but in real piety.” 

Virtuous and wise old age would breathe its last 
In wholesome counsel to yet unstay’d youth. 

Shakspeare’s Aphorisms. 

Of all this gentleman’s numerous writings, his “ Sylva, 


* See the Guardian, Nos. 29, 67, and 82. 

E 



74 


FEBRUARY. 


or, a Discourse of Forest Trees,” was, till lately, most 
known ; but his Memoirs, recently published by W. Bray, 
Esq., and his Miscellaneous Works, by W. Upcott, Esq., 
have been perused with pleasure, received high commen¬ 
dation, and are likely to retain a permanent station in our 
national literature. 

2/, 1738. Died, at his native place, Taunton, Somerset¬ 
shire, Henry Grove, a Dissenting minister, eminent for 
his learning and candour. He was the author of several 
excellent theological treatises, sermons, &e. Nos. 558, 
601, 626, and 635, of the Spectator, Vol. VIII., were also 
written by him. He was born in 1683. See Amorv, 
June 24, 1774. 

28, 1447. Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, Regent of 
England in the minority of Henry VI., was assassinated 
in' the prison at St. Edmondsbury, in Suffolk, and was 
buried at St. Albans. (Bourn’s Gazetteer .) He fell a 
victim, principally, to the malice of Cardinal Beaufort, 
Bishop of Winchester. (See Arith. Quest.) Humphrey 
was the fourth and youngest son of Henry IV. and Mary 
de Bohun, his first wife. For his many rare and excel¬ 
lent qualities, he was styled the Good, and for his justice. 
Father of his Country. 

Queen Margaret of Anjou is supposed to have been 
concerned in his sudden death, for which she afterwards 
suffered severely. As Humphrey was the chief support 
of the Lancastrian cause, his death emboldened Richard, 
duke of York, to carry liis designs of dethroning Henrv 
VI. into execution, which his son accomplished; and 
Margaret, being taken prisoner, was ransomed, and re¬ 
tired to France, where she terminated her checquered 
life. See March 4, 1461. 

— 1582. Died, at Edinburgh, George Buchanan, an 
eminent poet and historian. In his History of Scotland, 
which was written in Latin, he is said to have happily 
united the force and brevity of Sallust with the perspi¬ 
cuity and elegance of Livy. The states of Scotland ap¬ 
pointed him preceptor to the young king, James VI., 
afterwards James I. of England. Buchanan was born in 
1506, near Killearne, in Stirlingshire, Scotland. 

— 1735. A most curious Statue of George II., by the 
famous Rysbrack, carved out of a block of white marble 
that weighed eleven tons, and formerly taken from the 
French by the gallant Sir George Rooke, was set up in 
the great parade of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, at 


FEBRUARY. 75 

the expense of Sir John Jennings, a brave admiral, and 
the Governor of Greenwich Hospital. 

28, 1760. Thurot, an enterprising Frenchman, was 
killed, and his small squadron captured, near the Isle of 
Man, in the Irish Sea, by Captain John Elliott, who, even 
in his early youth, had distinguished himself by extraor¬ 
dinary acts of valour. Thurot, in the course of the pre¬ 
ceding year, had so signalized his courage in battle, and 
his conduct in eluding the British cruisers, that his name 
became a terror to all the merchants and trading seaports 
of Great Britain and Ireland. The defeat of his puny 
armament was, therefore, celebrated with as hearty re¬ 
joicings as the most important victory could have pro¬ 
duced. In the year 1744, Thurot was taken in a Dun¬ 
kirk privateer, by the English, and imprisoned at Dover, 
whence he escaped by throwing himself into an open 
boat, in which he contrived to reach Calais. 

29, 1692. Was born, at Newton, a village near Rugby, in 
Warwickshire, Edward Cave, celebrated for having 
planned and brought to perfection “ The Gentleman’s 
Magazine,” which has now subsisted nearly a century, 
and has been and continues to be the means of diffusing 
much antiquarian, biographical, and topographical infor¬ 
mation. Cave died Jan. 10, 1754, and was interred in 
the church of St. James’s, Clerkemvell. 

In the same church was buried in 1632, aged 56, John 
Weaver or Weever, author of “Ancient Funeral Mo¬ 
numents of Great Britain.” The following epitaph was 
written for himself: 

Lancashire* gave me breath, Cambridge education ; 

Middlesex gave me death, and this church humatiou. 

And Christ to me has given 
A place with him in heaven. 


* Born at Lancaster. See Bourn’s Gazetteer. 





( 76 ) 


MARCH. 


As yet the trembling year is unconfirm’d, 

And Winter oft at eve resumes the breeze ; 

Chills the pale morn, and bids his driving sleets 
Deform the day, delightless. 

Thomson. 


March, the third month in the year, had its name from 
Mars,* the God of War. Accordingly, March is drawn by 
artists in a tawny colour, with a fierce aspect, and a helmet 
upon his head, to shew that this month was dedicated to 
that God. As it was Romulus who first divided the year 
into months, so he gave to this, which was the first month 
in his calendar, the name of March, from that of Mars, his 
reputed father. 


And that thy honours always may appear, 

We Romans will with thee begin the year; 

Thence March from Mars the first of months was 
deem’d. 

Massey’s Ovid's Fasti. 
The first of months ascribing to his sire. 

Ovid, however, observes, that the people of Italy had the 
month of March before the time of Romulus j but they 
placed it very differently in the calendar. 


Do but on foreign Fasti cast your eye, 
Sacred to Mars a month in them you’ll spy. 


REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, St. David’s Day. This day is annually commemo¬ 
rated by the Welsh, with a festivity congenial to the hos¬ 
pitable feelings of that brave people, in honour of St. 
David, who, in the time of King Arthur, about the middle 
of the sixth century, was Archbishop of St. David’s, a city 
of Pembrokeshire, on the most westerly promontory of 
Wales. Tradition informs us, that St. David on his birth- 


* See Exercises on the Globes , Mars. 



MARCH. 


77 


day, obtained a great victory over some Saxon invaders. 
That his soldiers might be distinguished, he ordered each 
of them to fix a leek in his cap previous to the com¬ 
mencement of the battle. In memory of this circum¬ 
stance, the Welsh, wherever resident, still wear a leek in 
their hats on the first of March. In the time of Henry 
VIII., the princesses wore leeks on St. David’s day. 

1, 29. Was born at Bilbilis, now Calatajud, in the pro¬ 
vince of Arragon, Spain, the celebrated Latin epigram¬ 
matist, Marcus Valerius Martialis, who is generally 
allowed to have excelled all those, whether ancient or 
modern, who have attempted the pointed epigram; the 
chief properties of which, according to the celebrated 
critic, Scaliger, are “ brevity and smartness.” Many of 
Martial’s have, however, such an immoral tendency, that 
his works should be read with great caution. After re¬ 
siding at Rome from the 20th to the 54th year of his age, 
this famous poet retired to his native city, where he died 
at the age of 75. 

— 1711. Was published the first paper of that admirable 
work the “ Spectator,” written chiefly by Addison and 
Steele. See Addison and Steele, Index; and Arith. Quest. 
10th edit. 

— 1/50. Dr. David Bogue, who, in conjunction with 
others, founded the London Missionary Society, was born 
at Hallidown or Hallydown, in Berwickshire. For more 
than 30 years he was engaged at Gosport, in the arduous 
duty of instructing young men for the ministry, in which 
he was particularly successful, and was the author of 
several valuable works, among which his “ Evidence of 
the Divine Inspiration of the New Testament,” is a volume . 
of sterling merit See Ejcer. on the Globes , 11th edit. 
Dr. Bogue died at Brighton, October 25, 1825. 

— 1/92. Leopold II., emperor of Germany, died at 
Vienna. He was the son of Francis I. and Maria Theresa, 
and succeeded his brother Joseph II., in 1790. While 
grand duke of Tuscany, he patronized agriculture and 
the arts, and encouraged commerce by removing all re¬ 
strictions which tended to cramp it, saying, that “ Com¬ 
merce was like the course of rivers : if obstructed, there 
are stagnations or overflowings.” When he became em¬ 
peror, he united with England in curbing the conquests 
of Catharine II. of Russia, and was making preparation* 
for war with France, when he was prevented from putting 
his schemes in execution by his death, in the 45th year of 
his age. He was succeeded by his son, Francis II. 


78 MARCH. 

1, 1802. The New Stock Exchange was opened in 
Capel-Court, Bartholomew-Lane; it is a spacious build¬ 
ing, well adapted for the purpose. 

The Stock-Exchange is the market-place for buying and 
selling the national pledges, bearing interest by way o t 
annuity, and called by the general term ** Stocks.” 
A stock-broker is one who buys or sells stock by commis¬ 
sion for another. The brokerage is half-a-crown on every 
hundred pounds of stock bought or sold. A stock-jobber 
is one who, having property of his own in the funds, sells 
it out, and buys it in again at a profit or loss, as the price 
of the market rises or falls. A gambler in the funds is 
one who, possessing little, or perhaps no property in the 
stocks, enters into speculative bargains to sell or buy at 
future periods certain portions of stock, at a stated pre¬ 
sent price; his loss or gain is therefore confined to the 
differences of the prices. This species of stock-jobbing 
being, like other gambling transactions, expressly prohi¬ 
bited by law, no action for the recovery of the loss can 
be maintained in any court of justice. An unfortunate 
dealer in this market who becomes a bankrupt, is desig¬ 
nated by the term lame duck, and his retreat is called 
muddling out of the Alley. Formerly, the place of ren¬ 
dezvous for persons transacting business in the funds, 
was Jonathan’s Coffee-house, in ’Change-Alley, Cornhill. 
From this circumstance the “Alley” is to this day fami¬ 
liarly used as a cant phrase for the Stock-Exchange; and 
a petty speculator in the funds is styled, “ a dabbler in 
the Alley.” 

— 1815 Bonaparte landed near Cannes, department of 
Var, province of Provence, from the island of Elba, where 
he had embarked on the 28th of February. See Cannes 
and Elba, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

2 , 1711. Died Nicholas Boileau, a celebrated French 
poet, who was born at Paris, November 1, 1636. So 
liighly did he rank among French writers, that Bruyere, 
in a speech delivered in the French Academy, said, “ Boi¬ 
leau excels Juvenal, comes up to Horace, seems to create 
the thoughts of another, and to make whatever he handles 
his own. His verses will be read, even when the lan¬ 
guage is obsolete, and will be the last ruins of it.” Dr. 
Warton also says, that Boileau’s Art of Poetry is the best 
composition of that kind extant. 

In the venal court of Louis XIV., though pensioned by 
that monarch, he frequently dissented from his opinions; 
defended his friend Racine from the unjust aspersions of 


MARCH. 7 9 

his enemies, and ridiculed the obsequious flattery of the 
hypocritical sycophants. 

The pension’d Boileau lash’d in honest strain, 

Flatterers and bigots e’en in Louis’ reign. Pope. 

2, 1788. Died at his native place, Zurich, in the north 

of Switzerland, Solomon Gessner, author of “ The 
Death of Abel,’* and many other elegant and admired 
works. 

— 1791. The Rev. John Wesley, an eminently pious 
leader of the sect called Methodists,* expired at London. 
He was born at Epworth, a town in the north-west part 
of Lincolnshire, in 1703, and sustained through life the 
character of a virtuous man, an accomplished scholar, and 
an eloquent preacher. One who knew him well thus 
speaks of Mr. Wesley : “ If usefulness be excellence, if 
public good is the chief object of attention in public 
characters, Mr. John Wesley will long be remembered as 
one of the best of men, as he was for more than fifty years 
the most diligent and indefatigable.” It has been com¬ 
puted, that he travelled 8000 miles every year, and 
preached three or four times constantly every day, be¬ 
sides visiting the sick, and arranging the concerns of the 
Society over which he presided. 

Now thro’ the land his care of souls he stretch’d, 

And like a primitive apostle preach’d ; 

Still cheerful, ever constant to his call ; 

By many follow’d, lov’d by most, admired by all. 

Pope. 

— 1797- Expired in Berkeley Square, in the 80th year of 
his age, Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, youngest 
son of the famous statesman, Sir Robert Walpole-T 
He was the author of numerous publications, the most 
distinguished of which are, “ The Castle of Otranto,” a 
tragedy ; “ A Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors 
“A Catalogue of Engravers;” and also “Memoirs of 
the last Ten Years of the Reign of George II.” This last 
work is eminently calculated to render those who keep 


* See Methodists, Index, and Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 

t Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, was born at Hough¬ 
ton, in Norfolk, in 1674. He was prime minister to George I. 
and George II., and enjoyed plenitude of power from 1725 to 
1742, when he was compelled to resign his places. He died in 
1745. 



80 


MARCH. 


“ the noiseless tenour of their way” in the still paths of 
private life, and in its plain, but useful stations, thankful 
for a lot which exempts them from the temptations and 
passions that too often corrupt and agitate the higher and 
more public ranks of society: they may here tind that 
disinterested friendships, innocent amusements, and the 
important concerns of eternity, are preferable to selfish 
connexions, vicious enjoyments, and worldly affections; 
they may discern, with ancient Barzillai, who refused the 
honours proffered by a king,* that the true “ post of 
honour is” often “ a priyate station;” and that “ to do 
justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God” con¬ 
fers more substantial happiness than to live surrounded 
by the marshalled pomp of armies, or the splendour of 
courts. 

The beautiful villa, inhabited by Lord Orford, at Straw¬ 
berry Hill, near Twickenham, has been long admired for 
its elegant embellishments, and the choice collection of 
pictures, sculptures, antiquities, and curiosities that adorn 
it; many of which were purchased from some of the first 
cabinets in Europe. Here, too, his Lordship, better 
known to the world as Horace Walpole, had a printing- 
press, and Strawberry-Hill editions have, since the death 
of the noble typographer , realized a high price. 

2, 1802. Expired at Woburn, in Bedfordshire, at the 

early age of thirty-seven years, Francis, Duke of Bed¬ 
ford, whose name will long continue to be respected, as 
the disinterested patriot, the promoter of useful science, 
the benefactor of the industrious poor, the friend of man¬ 
kind, and the illustrious patron of agriculture ;f a science 
above all others conducive to the national prosperity and 
happiness.| 

O 1 why hath worth so short a date, 

While villains ripen gray with time ? 

Must thou, the noble, gen’rous, great, 

Fall in bold manhood’s hardy prime ? Burns. 


* 2 Samuel xix. 31—37. 

t In the beautiful and graceful allegorical statue of this digni¬ 
fied nobleman, erected in 1809, in Russell-Square, he is repre¬ 
sented by the ingenious artist, Westmacott, in this character ; 
holding in one hand a bunch of corn, and resting the other on a 
plough ; the two relievos describing the prominent incidents in 
husbandry. 

X See Arith. Quest. 



MARCH. 


81 


That the life of a man should not be dated, however, 
according to the vulgar calculation of the hours and days 
which he has existed ; but that it should be measured by 
a nobler line—by deeds —not ijeurs —is not only an evident 
but a consolatory truth. Though sinking in decrepit and 
hoary age, he prematurely falls, whose memory records 
no benefit conferred by him on the human race; nor can 
he who by his assiduity, his beneficence, and his talents, 
has endeavoured to render his fellow-creatures bettter, 
wiser, and happier, be said to have lived a short time, 
how contracted soever may have been the span of his 
existence. 

That life is long which answers life’s great end, 

The time that bears no fruit deserves no name ; 

The man of wisdom is the man of years : 

In hoary youth Methuselems may die.* 

Young. f 

The Duke of Bedford was interred among his ances¬ 
tors, at Chenies, a village to the east of Amersham, in 
Buckinghamshire. + 

3, 1792. Died Robert Adam, an eminent architect, 
born at Kirkaldy, Fifeshire, in Scotland, 1728. He pro¬ 
duced a total change in the architecture of this country ; 
and his fertile genius in elegant ornament was not con¬ 
fined to the decoration of buildings, but has been diffused 
into almost every branch of manufacture. Among the 
best works of this gentleman may be classed the Adelphi, 
in the Strand (see Jan. 20, 1779); Lansdown House, a 
fine mansion in Berkeley Square; and Luton, in Bedford¬ 
shire : both these were erected for that celebrated favour¬ 
ite the Earl of Bute. The former is now inhabited by the 
Marquis of Lansdown, and the latter is still a seat of the 
Bute family. 

4, 1461. Edward IV. (son of Richard, Duke of York, 
who was slain at the battle of Wakefield, in the West 


* “ Methuselah, whose feet unlialting ran 
To the last circle of the life of man,” 

was the son of Enoch, and lived 969 years. 

f See Day, Thomas, Index. 

+ Should any of our readers \vish for a particular account of 
the amiable nobleman above-mentioned, we refer them to Mr. 
Fox’s eulogy on the Duke of Bedford, inserted in most of the 
Magazines for April, 1802. 

e 3 




82 


MARCH. 


Riding of Yorkshire, in 1460) was by the artful manage¬ 
ment of the Earl of Warwick/ proclaimed king in the 
room of Henry VI., who was afterwards murdered in the 
Tower, in 1471. 

5, 1778. Died Dr. Thomas Augustine Arne, whose 
musical compositions are well known and universally ad¬ 
mired. See January 30, 1766. 

6, 1623. Prince Charles (son of James I.) and the 
Duke of Buckingham, arrived at Madrid. The design of 
their journey was to conclude a treaty of marriage between 
the Prince and the Infanta of Spain; which, however, 
though the articles were agreed on, did not take place. 
On his succession to the crown, in 1625, he married Hen¬ 
rietta of France, daughter of Henry IV. See Mis. Quest, 
in Eng. Hist. 

7, 1755. Died, in the ninety-third year of his age, Thomas 
Wilson, the venerable Bishop of Sodorf and Man, an 
island in the Irish Sea; having held the bishopric no less 
than 58 years. This worthy prelate, by the goodness of 
his life, and his mild, dignified, and apostolic manners, 
very eminently contributed to the spreading of Christi¬ 
anity among the inhabitants. Previous to his arrival at 
the Isle of Man, the natives, speaking generally, were 
profoundly ignorant; and the duties of religion and mora¬ 
lity were little known, and less practised; but the pious 
labours of the bishop, and his fervent endeavours to en¬ 
lighten and improve their minds, proved extremely suc¬ 
cessful ; and his memory is still respected and revered by 
every class of its inhabitants. Bishop Wilson was born 


* This nobleman (who was slain in the battle of Barnet, in 
1471) was commonly called the King-Maker, on account of’his 
having alternately deposed and proclaimed Edward IV. and 
Henry VI. 

f Sodor is a village in I-colm-kill, I-columbkiU, Iona, or Jona, 
a small, but celebrated island, having been the seat of learning’ 
while western Europe lay buried in ignorance and barbarity; or’ 
as Dr. Johnson calls it, “ the luminary of the Caledonian regions’ 
whence,” he adds, “ savage clans and roving barbarians derived 
the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion.” It is 
situated near the south-west corner of Mull, one of the Hebrides! 
or western islands of Scotland/ 


+ the folio Atlas to Guthrii/s Geography , ox* W1 lri 
General Atlas . ‘ 1 






MARCH. 


83 


at Burton, a small village adjacent to Great Neston,* a 
town near the banks of the Dee, in Cheshire, and was 
buried in Kirk-Michael churchyard, Ramsey, Isle of Man. 

7, 1810. Lord Collingwood, the successor of the gal¬ 
lant Nelson, an admiral of consummate skill and perse¬ 
verance, died soon after his ship sailed from Port Mahon, 
Minorca, on his return to England. He had attained the 
age of 5.9 years and six months. His body was conveyed 
to England, and deposited in St. Paul’s Cathedral by the 
side of his early and constant friend Lord Nelson.ff Hu¬ 
manity and gentleness, inseparable companions of true 
valour, were blended in all his actions. He was an active, 
intelligent, and brave officer, and a most amiable, gene¬ 
rous, and affectionate man in all the relations of husband, 
father, and friend. His letters to his daughters, pub¬ 
lished since his death, prove his anxious desire of culti¬ 
vating in their minds benevolence, gentleness, and every 
female virtue. 

8, 1702. William III. expired at Kensington Palace, in 
the 52nd year of his age, and the 14th of his reign. This 
Prince was the posthumous son of William Prince of 
Orange, by the Princess Mary, eldest daughter of King' 
Charles I. He was the head, heart, and hand, of the con¬ 
federacy—the assertor of liberty—the deliverer of nations 
—the support of the empire—the bulwark of Holland— 
the preserver of Britain, and the terror of France. His 
thoughts were wise, deep, and secret: his words few and 
faithful; his actions many and heroic. He was mag¬ 
nanimous, but without pride. His justice was without 
rigour, and his religion without superstition. By the ex¬ 
clusion of King James, and the elevation of King William 
to the throne, the liberties of Britain were asserted, con¬ 
firmed, and established. 

— 1803 Died in Cleveland Row, St. James’s, the Duke 
of Bridgewater, styled “ The Father of Canal Navi¬ 
gation” in this country, his grace being the first person 


* The inhabitants of Great Neston derive considerable advan¬ 
tages from the contiguity of Park Gate, which of late has become 
a fashionable bathing-place; and is also celebrated as the station 
of the packet-boats for Ireland, which generally sail to that coun¬ 
try four times a week. 

f Lord Collingwood was in the battle of the 1st of June off 
Ushant, of the 14th of February off Cape St. Vincent, and in that 
of the 21st of October off Trafalgar, in all of which his brave 
associate was present. 



84 


MARCH. 


who countenanced the plan and supported the expense of 
cutting’ a navig'able canal in England; a splendid under¬ 
taking, which, in the year 1760, called into action the 
great abilities of James Brindley.* This original English 
canal extended from Worsley to Manchester, in Lanca¬ 
shire, a distance of about seven miles. See Phillip’s 
History of Inland Navigation. 

— 1796. Sir William Chambers, the architect of Somer¬ 
set House,f expired. He was by birth a Swede, but brought 
over to England at two years of age. Somerset House is 
on the site where formerly stood the palace of the Protec¬ 
tor Somerset. See January 22, 1552. 

9, 1566. Rizzio, who had obtained an extraordinary 

degree of confidence and favour with the unfortunate 
Mary, Queen of Scots, was assassinated in her presence. 

In clattering hauberk J clad, through night’s still gloom 
Stern Ruthven fiercely stalks with haggard mien ; 

With thundering tone proclaims the victim’s doom, 

And tears her minion from a doating queeu : 

Through the arch’d courts, and storied chambers high, 

Loud shrieks of terror ring, and death’s expiring cry 1 

Sergeant’s Poem of the Mine. 

In the palace of Holyrood House, at Edinburgh is 
still shewn the chamber where the queen sat at supper 
when Rizzio was dragged from her side and murdered, 
and also the private staircase by which Ruthven entered 
with the assassins to perpetrate the savage deed. Rizzio 
was an Italian musician of Turin, capital of Piedmont, in 
the north-west part of Italy, and arrived in Scotland about 
three years before in the suite of the Piedmontese ambas¬ 
sador. 

— 1770. Expired in London, William Guthrie, a very 
laborious and voluminous writer on history, politics, and 
other subjects, born at Brechin, a town eight miles from 
Montrose, in Angus, or Forfarshire, Scotland, in 1701. 
He was a writer by profession, and is said to have lent 
his name to booksellers for publications in which he had 
no concern. Such is asserted to have been the case with 
respect to the work called “ Guthrie’s Geographical 
Grammar.” See Knox, August 1, 1790. 


* See Brindley, Index. + See June 4, 1776. * , 

+ The hauberk was a texture of steel ringlets, or rings inter¬ 
woven, forming a coat of mail, that sat close to the body, and 
adapted itself to every motion. 



MARCH. 


85 


10, 1792. Expired John, Earl of Bute, a nobleman 
who for some time directed the education of the late king; 
and, in 1763, was appointed prime minister of the state; 
a situation which popular resentment soon compelled him 
to relinquish. Though withdrawn from the ostensible 
administration of affairs, however, he was nevertheless 
considered as the clandestine director of the cabinet,* 
and, on that account, continued long to be the constant 
subject of odium and invective in the patriotic publica¬ 
tions of that period.f He was an encourager of learning 
and learned men, and a patron of the arts; and at his 
death possessed a very fine collection of marine paintings. 

— 1820. Died, at his house in Newman Street, Oxford 
Street, in the 82nd year of his age, Benjamin West, an 
artist of the very first rank as an historical painter. Mr. 
West was born in 1738, in the State of Pennsylvania, 
North America, of parents who belonged to the society 
usually denominated Quakers. He discovered an early 
devotion to the sublime art; and coming to England, his 
great merit soon attracted the public attention, and more 
especially the patronage of George III. By that monarch 
he was employed to embellish Windsor Castle and Chapel, 
and he received from the princely munificence of his au¬ 
gust patron, for various subjects, upwards of ^*37,000. 
The leading feature of this great artist’s pencil was per¬ 
spicuity and propriety of composition. He accurately 
embodied some of the grandest events in sacred and pro¬ 
fane history. His “ Christ healing the Sick,” and “The 
Death of General Wolfe,”]; are among his most cele¬ 
brated efforts. The former has been engraved by Mr. 
Heath, and the latter by the famous Woollett. On the 
death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. West was elected Pre¬ 
sident of the Royal Academy. He was interred with 
great funeral ceremony in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and his 
body deposited near the kindred remains of Reynolds, 
Barry, and Opie. See August 29, 1797- 

No modern painter had a greater claim to the praise 


* See Belsham’s History of the reign of George III. 

f See Junius’s Letters ; the North Briton, &c., &c. 

+ Mr. West executed some duplicates of this picture ; the ori¬ 
ginal is in the splendid collection of Earl Grosvenor. Excellent 
engravings from which collection, with a descriptive catalogue, 
were published by Mr. Young, Mezzotinto Engraver to his 
Majesty. 




86 


MARCH. 


attached to a judicious, pure, and noble choice of subject, 
than the late President of the Royal Academy, Mr. W est. 
His elevated genius was for half a century actively exer¬ 
cised on themes which make the eye the medium of in¬ 
struction to the understanding, and mend the heart; and 
none more so than in his tine picture of Christ teaching 
the great virtue of humility ; * the possession of which is 
not only one of the brightest ornaments of our nature, 
but perhaps more conducive than any other to its happi¬ 
ness ; as it is certain that its opposite, pride , produces 
half its miseries. 

Many of our young readers will, doubtless, recollect 
with pleasure their having seen this exquisite piece in 
the exhibition of 1810. Long may its moral practically 
impress their tender minds ! 

From purity of thought all pleasure springs, 

And from an humble spirit all our peace. 

Young. 

It is well worthy of our observation, remarks the pious 
Doddridge, that no one sentence of our Lord’s is so fre¬ 
quently repeated as that which recommends humility; 
which occurs at least, says that learned and candid com¬ 
mentator, ten times in the Evangelists. Compare Matt, 
xviii. 4, xx. 26, 27, xxiii. 10, 11$ Mark ix. 35, x. 43, 44; 
Luke xiv. 11, xviii. 14, xxii. 26, and John xiii. 14. Fam. 
Expos. 

10, 1826. John VI., king of Portugal, died at Lisbon, 
aged 60. When Bonaparte invaded Portugal, in 1807, 
he retired with the Queen, his imbecile mother, to Brazil. 


* This charming work was painted in fifteen days, just after 
Mr. West had recovered from a long illness, and finished hastily 
from a sense of duty, as he conceived that every member of the 
Academy should contribute to the annual display. Mr. Davis, 
M. P. for Colchester, having, in conversation with Mr. West, as¬ 
certained that the picture was not sold, and that he was not un¬ 
willing to part with it, at once offered him a thousand guineas for 
it. Of the venerable President’s chef-d’oeuvre, “Christ heal¬ 
ing the Sick in the Temple,” f which every person of taste, 
in or near London, has seen with admiration and astonishment, 
and which is to stand as the foundation-stone of the British 
Gallery, it is sufficient here to record, that an enlightened so¬ 
ciety, the patrous of art, have purchased it for three thousand 
guineas . 


See Matt. xxi. 5, 11, 15 ; and Geo. Exer. on the'JVew Test. No. 84. 




MARCH. 


87 


He succeeded her on the 20th of March, 1816, and was 
crowned at Rio Janeiro, but returned to his capital in 
1821. His son Pedro, born Oct. 12, 1798, was proclaim¬ 
ed emperor of Brazil, in 1822. 

11, 1544. Tasso, the famous poet who gave to Italy the 
rare honour of possessing- an epic poein, was born at 
Sorrento, a small city on the bay of Naples. From the 
age of eight years he had been remarkable for his poetical 
talents. See Sorrento, Bourn’s Gaz., Note, and April 
25 in this work. 

— 1809. Died, at her native place, Tiverton, a town 
north-east of Exeter, in Devonshire, in the 66th year of 
her age, Mrs. Hannah Cowley, a very ingenious dra¬ 
matic writer, and a poet, indeed, in almost every branch 
of the art. In the different characters of daughter, wife, 
and mother, her conduct was most exemplary, and lite¬ 
rary fame appeared to be not at all essential to her hap¬ 
piness. 

12, 1689. King James II. landed at Kinsale, a seaport in 
the south of Ireland, with 5000 French, and from thence 
went to Dublin. 

— 1/12. Queen Anne announced, in the Royal Gazette, 
her intention to touch publicly for the Evil. This was 
the last of our sovereigns who exercised this miraculous 
gift. It must be rather mortifying to our national vanity 
and pride, to think that our ancestors for seven hundred 
years firmly believed in the efficacy of the royal touch in 
scrofulous complaints. But while we reprobate or pity 
their stupid and miserable credulity, in this and other 
instances, let us not forget that we ourselves are not with¬ 
out our errors and failings, and those no less inexcusable 
and degrading; witness our belief in the astrological 
nonsense annually circulated in one of our almanacks ;— 
in the artful promises emitted by the cunning professors 
of palmistry, and other gulling branches of fortune-tell¬ 
ing ;—in the Fasting Woman of Tutbury, together with 
the unshaken faith of multitudes in the maniac Richard 
Brothers, and in the “Weird Sister” Johanna Southcott, 
and many other notorious quacks and impostors of diffe¬ 
rent descriptions; insomuch, that it may be justly ques¬ 
tioned, if there ever was a period when the inhabitants of 
this country have been more credulous, more easily im¬ 
posed upon, or more generally duped, by the specious arts 
of daring deceivers, than in this very age. See Eaercises 
on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Augurs and Oracle; and 
Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Loretto. A detailed account 


88 


MARCH. 


of the Royal Touch may be seen in the Monthly Mag. 
1810, Monthly Repos. *1813, and Christian Observer, 
1829. 

12, 1713. The first number of the Guardian, a well- 
known periodical paper, was published under the direc¬ 
tion of Steele. 

13, 565. Died, after experiencing the severest trials of 
royal ingratitude, Belisarius, a celebrated general, who 
in a degenerate and effeminate dge, in the reign of Justi¬ 
nian, emperor of Constantinople, renewed all the glorious 
victories, battles, and triumphs, which had rendered the 
first Romans so distinguished in the time of their repub¬ 
lic. See Arith. Quest. 

— 1/81. Herschel discovered a new planet, which he 
called, in compliment to the king, Georg'ium Sidus, or 
the Georgian Planet* For his important additions to 
the stock of our national knowledge, he was elected a 
member of the Royal Society, and received from the 
University of Oxford the degree of a Doctor of Laws. 
Dr. H. was born at Hanover, in the North of Germany ;f 
came to London in 1/59; was appointed organist to a 
church in Halifax, and afterwards to the Octagon Chapel 
at Bath: he resided at Slough, near Windsor, and was 
materially assisted in his astronomical pursuits by his 
sister. Miss Caroline Herschel. See January 1, 1801. 

— 1791. Died, in the sixth year of her age, Penelope 
Boothby, to whom a singularly beautiful monument is 
erected in the church at Ashbourne,]; in Derbyshire. 


* See Exercises on the Globes, art. Georgium Sidus. 

f Dr. Herschel, Mr. West, the celebrated painter, and his late 
Majesty George III., were all born in the year 1738. His Ma* 
jesty died Jan. 29, and Mr. West March 10, in the same year 
(1820); Dr. Herschel died August 25, 1822. 

X In this church were interred the shattered remains of Mr. 
Langton, dean of Clogher, in Ireland. This gentleman being on 
a visit to a family in the neighbourhood, a party was formed to 
make an excursion to Dove-Dale, a spot remarkable for its ro¬ 
mantic scenery. As they were proceeding along the bottom of 
the valley, Mr. L. presumptuously proposed to ascend, on horse¬ 
back, a very steep precipice, apparently between three and four 
hundred feet high ; and Miss La Roche, a young lady of the 
party, unthinkingly agreed to accompany him on the same horse. 
When they had climbed the rocks to a considerable height, the 
poor animal, unable to sustain the fatigue of the arduous task 
thus wantonly and unfeelingly imposed on him, fell under his 



MARCH. 


89 


Simplicity and elegance appear in the workmanship, ten¬ 
derness and innocence in the image. In short, it is gene¬ 
rally allowed to be one of the most interesting and pa¬ 
thetic objects of the kind in England: and the different 
inscriptions in Latin, Italian, French, and English, are in 
perfect unison with the sculpture. Beneath, on the pe¬ 
destal, appears 


To Penelope, 

Only child of Sir Brooke and Dame Susannah Boothby, 
born April 11, 1785; died March 13, 1791. 

She was in form and intellect most exquisite. 

The unfortunate parents ventured their all 

Iu this frail bark, and the wreck was total. 

The monument was executed by the classic chisel of 
Banks; and a neat engraving of it has been published, 
with a volume of poems, by Sir Brooke Boothby, under 
the title of “ Sarroivs, sacred to Penelope” The work is 
splendidly printed by Buhner. 

13, 1808. Christian VII., king of Denmark, died at 
Rendsburgh in Holstein. See Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

14, 1757- John Byng, an unfortunate English Admiral, 
who had given many proofs of courage, was, on a very 
dubious sentence for neglect of duty, shot at Portsmouth. 
He died with great resolution and composure, not shewing 
the least sign of timidity. Though Voltaire affects to be 
witty upon the fate of this unfortunate officer, observing 
that he was shot “pour encourager les autres ,” the na¬ 
tion has long been satisfied that his life was sacrificed to 
the political fervour of the times. The following inscrip¬ 
tion to his memory is in the church of Southill, Bedford¬ 
shire, the seat of the Torrington family: 

“To the perpetual disgrace of public justice, the Hon. John 
Byng, Vice-Admiral of the Blue, fell a martyr to political 


burden, and instantly rolled down the steep. The Dean was pre¬ 
cipitated to the bottom, and so biuised and mangled by the fall, 
that he expired in a few days. The young lady, whose descent 
had been fortunately retarded by her hair entangling in a bram¬ 
ble-bush, slowly recovered; though, when taken up, she was 
insensible, and continued so for the space of two days. The 
horse, more lucky than his inconsiderate riders, was scarcely 
injured. 



90 


MARCH. 


persecution on March 14, 1757; when bravery and loyalty 
were iusufficieut securities for the life and honour of a naval 
officer.” 

14, 1799. Expired at Bath, in the 89th year of his age, that 
elegant scholar and polite writer, William Melmoth. 
Besides Pliny’s Epistles, he translated some of Cicero’s 
works ; wrote “ Fitzosborne’s Lettersand “ Memoirs 
of a late eminent Advocate and Member of the Honour¬ 
able Society of Lincoln’s-Inn.” The excellent person 
whose character is delineated in this last performance was 
Mr. Melmoth’s father, and author of an admirable work, 
entitled, “The Great Importance of a Religious Life,” 
which has had a very extensive circulation. 

— 1803. Died, in the 80th year of his age, at Hamburgh, 
in the north of Germany, Frederick. Klopstock, whom 
the German literati place by the side of Homer and Mil- 
ton. He was not only a sublime poet and a good scho¬ 
lar, but a very amiable and very pious man. In his ap¬ 
proaching dissolution he manifested great tranquillity of 
mind, and resignation to the will of God ; expressed 
warm emotions of gratitude for the happiness he had en¬ 
joyed in life,* and declared his firm and joyful expecta¬ 
tion of future bliss, in a higher state of existence. Thus 
did his strong feelings of religion shed a lustre over his 
last moments, and enable him to display a noble example 
of what he had often sung in his divine poems. 

A solemn funeral, such as Germany had never witnessed 
for any man of letters before, honoured his remains; and, 
agreeably to his own desire, he was interred at the village 
of Oltensen, by the side of his wife, and under a noble 
lime-tree, which he had planted on her grave forty years 
before. The remembrance of this charming woman, his 
beloved Meta,f he cherished to the last hour of his life. 
As he always found a melancholy pleasure in visiting her 
grave, he occasionally soothed his grief by planting white 
lilies upon it; observing that the lily was the most exalted 
of flowers,]; and that she was the most exalted of women. 


* See Feb. 6, 1804. 

f Meta is Margaretta contracted ; her name having been Mar¬ 
garet Muller. She died on the 28th of November, 1758, after 
having enjoyed four years of as perfect connubial happiness as 
this sublunary state can afford. See March 27, 1762, and Aug. 
22, 1773. 

} Shakspeare styles the lily “ the Mistress of the field and 



MARCH. 


91 


Frederick Klopstock was born at Quedlinburgh, near 
Halberstadt, in Westphalia; studied at the college of his 
native place, afterwards at the university of Jena, near 
Weimar, and finally at Leipsic, in Saxony. His “ Mes¬ 
siah,” an epic poem,* by which his name is chiefly im¬ 
mortalized, was published at Halle, in 1751. See an inte¬ 
resting work published in 1809, entitled, Memoirs of 
Frederick and Margaret Klopstock. 

15, Festival of Longinus, whom the Latins believe to 
be the soldier that pierced our Saviour’s side with his 
spear, at his crucifixion on Mount Calvary (John xix. 
34). Observing the miracles which happened at the death 
of Jesus, he became a convert, renounced a military life, 
and retired to Cappadocia, where he preached the gospel 
and lost his life. See Geo. Exer. on the New Test., 3d 
edit. 

— 43, B. C. Julius Caesar was assassinated in the se¬ 
nate-house at Rome. See Arith. Quest. 

It is well observed, that those who style this wholesale 
destroyer of the human race a hero, behold him 

In a false glaring light, 

Which conquest and success have thrown upon him ; 

Did they but view him right, they’d see him black 

With murder,, treason, sacrilege, and crimes 

That strike the soul with horror but to name them. 

Addison. 

This day was, by the decree of a fawning Senate, or¬ 
dered to be called Purricidium, or Patricidal, on account 
of the assassination of Ctesar. See Exer. on the Globes, 
pages 61, &c., 11th edit., and Arith. Quest., 10th edit. 
No. 26. 

— 1/84. Expired Dr. Thomas Francklin, whose trans¬ 


om* Saviour observes, that even Solomon in all his glory was not 
arrayed like one of these.f 

Take but the humblest lily of the field ; 

And if our pride will to our reason yield. 

It must by sure comparison be shewn, 

That on the regal seat great David’s son, 

Arrayed in all his robes and types of power. 

Shines with less glory than that simple flovv’r. 

Prior. 

* See Arith. Quest, art. Epic Poem. 


t See Matt. vi. 29 ; July 2, 1805 ; and June, Index. 







92 


MARCH. 


lations of Phalaris, Sophocles, and Lucian, equally evince 
learning and genius. The principal of his own dramatic 
compositions are the tragedies of the “ Earl of Warwick” 
and “ Matilda.” He was born in London about the year 
1720, and at his death was rector of Brasted, near Wes- 
terliam, in Kent. 

15, 1824. The first pile of the new London Bridge was 
sunk. See June 15, 1825. 

16, 1792. Gustavus III., King of Sweden, was assassi¬ 
nated at Stockholm, in consequence of a conspiracy 
among the discontented nobles, by Ankerstrom, at a mas¬ 
querade, but did not expire till the 29th. The murderer 
suffered death on the 18th of May following. 

— 1817. Died at Kensington Gravel Pits, in the 71st year 
of his age, William Thomson, LL.D., the most active, 
laborious, and indefatigable man of letters that appeared 
in the late reign, and who could boast that he had written 
on a greater variety of subjects than any of his contempo¬ 
raries ; liis name, with an exception to poetry, being 
connected with every species of composition. See a list 
of his works in the Annual Obituary for 1818. He was 
born in an obscure cottage situated about six miles from 
Perth. 

17, 493. St. Patrick, the tutelar saint of Ireland, died at 
Saul-Abbey, in the county of Down, in that kingdom, in 
the 120th year of his age; having been born in 373, at 
Kilpatrick, or Kirk-patrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland. 
He was interred at Down, according to most accounts; 
but respecting his burial-place there have been great dis¬ 
putes;* and it has been as warm a subject of debate with 
the religious, as Homer’s birth-place was formerly among 
the cities of Greece. St. Patrick, having formed a design 
of converting the Irish to the Christian faith* travelled to 
the continent, the better to qualify himself for the under¬ 
taking, and continued abroad several years. Being at 
length sent by Pope Celestine as a missionary to Ireland, 
he landed at Waterford in 441, and began his arduous 
labours. He afterwards founded the see of Armagh, in 
the province of Ulster, and established several religious 
houses and schools. His works were collected and print¬ 
ed in 1656, by Sir James Ware. St. Patrick is often 
styled the apostle of the Irish, and the father of the Hi- 


* Some maintain that he was buried at Glastonbury, in Somer¬ 
setshire; others affirm that he was born and interred at Glasgow, 
in Scotland. * 




MARCH. 


93 


bernian church. In the year 1783, George the Third 
instituted a society in Ireland, called The Order of St. 
Patrick; when Prince Edward, afterwards Duke of Kent,* 
and several of the Irish nobility, were appointed knights 
companions of that order. 

17, 1775. The Rev. Mr. Newnham, one of the minor 
canons of the Cathedral of Bristol, in company with an¬ 
other gentleman, his sister, and a lady who was the object 
of his fondest affection, went to explore the depth of Pen- 
Park-Hole, a tremendous abyss a few miles from Bris¬ 
tol. Mr. N. having lowered a line for this purpose, in 
order to support himself with more security, laid hold of 
a twig shooting from the root of an adjacent ash; but at 
this instant his foot slipping, the faithless scion gave way, 
and he was precipitated into the horrible gulf, in the sight 
of his astonished and agonized friends. Thirty-nine days 
after, his body was found floating in the water. It is re¬ 
markable, that this unfortunate gentleman had officiated 
that very morning at Clifton church, and read Psalm 
lxxxviii., in which are these words, so descriptive of his 
end: “ Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in a place of 
darkness and in the deep.” 

— 1800. The Queen Charlotte, a British ship of war 
of 110 guns, was blown up off the harbour of Leghorn, a 
noted port in Tuscany, Italy, when the commander (Cap¬ 
tain Todd), and above 800 of the crew, perished by the 
explosion. 

— 1715. Died Gilbert Burnet, an eminent English 
prelate, and author of “ The History of the Reformation 
of the Church of England.” This work is one of the 
most valuable histories in our own or any other language, 
and for which Dr. Apthorpe called the writer the English 
Eusebius. 

The Bishop’s youngest son in early life pursued a course 
of dissipation which occasioned great uneasiness to his 
father. One day being unusually grave, his father asked 
him what was the subject of his meditation: “ A greater 
work,” replied the son,” than your Lordship’s History of 
the Reformation.” “What is that, Tom?” “ My own 
Reformation, my Lord.” “ I shall be heartily glad to see 
it,” said the Bishop, “ but almost despair of it.” This, 
however, was happily accomplished, but not till the bi¬ 
shop’s decease, when all the tears which repentance could 


* See January 23, 1820. 



94 


MARCH. 


shed, could not recall the sorrows he had caused. See 
Nov. 4, 1688, note, and Jan. 8, 1753. 

1/, 1828. Sir James Edward Smith, the first President 
of the Linnaean Society, died at Norwich, his native place. 
This celebrated naturalist and botanist purchased in Swe¬ 
den the Herbarium of the great Linnaeus, augmented by 
his son; the most precious relic of its most distinguished 
native. Sir James was the author of several publications 
on Natural History and Botany, and the last volume of 
his English Botany, a work of great accuracy and merit, 
appeared in London on the very day that proved to its 
author the termination of his mortal career. 

18, 1526. Francis I., king of France, recovered his liberty. 
See February 24, 1525, and May 31, 1520. Francis I. 
died in 1547, in his palace at Rambouillet, now in the 
department of Seine and Oise. See March 31. 

— 1719. John Gesner, the celebrated Swiss botanist, 
and friend of Linnaeus, was born at Zurich, in the north 
of Switzerland. He died on the 6th of May, 1/90. 

— 1768. Died Lawrence Sterne, an English divine, 
and a witty writer, of very original powers and genius: 
though Dr. Ferriar, in his “ Illustrations of Sterne,” has 
detected him in drawing some of the best thoughts in his 
most admired performances from “Burton’s Anatomy 
of Melancholy.”* Sterne was born at Clonmel, in the 
south of Ireland, in 1713, and was interred in the new 
burying-ground belonging to St. George’s parish, Ha- 
nover-square, Westminster. 

Sterne died at his lodgings in Bond-street, with neither 
friend nor relative by his side; a hired nurse was the 
sole companion of the man whose wit found admirers in 
every street, but whose heart could not draw one by his 
death-bed. The monument to his memory was erected 
by strangers, and the inscription upon it has an erroneous 
date. See Clonmel, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

19, -Was observed at Rome the feast of Minerva, 

which continued five days. It was during this solemnity 
that the boys and girls used to pray to the Goddess for 
wisdom and learning, of which she had the patronage. 
At the same time the youths carried their masters a fee, 
or present, termed Minerval; concerning both which 
customs those who have the “ delightful task of rearing 


* See Feb. 8, 1576, and Exer. on Globes, 11th edit. art. De 
mocritus and Heraclitus. 



MARCH. 


95 


the tender thought” would say. May they last for ever; 
may scholars pray for wisdom, for the attentive ear, and 
for the teachable disposition, and may they liberally re¬ 
ward their instructors! 

19, 720. B. C. Happened the first eclipse of the moon, of 
which we have any account upon record. See Ewer, on 
the Globes, art. Eclipse of the Moon. 

— 1285. Alexander III., king of Scotland, was killed 
by a fall from his horse near Kinghorn, Fifeshire. He 
was 45 years old, and had reigned 37 years. He espoused 
Margaret, daughter of Henry III. of England, at York, 
in 1251. His only daughter, Margaret, was married to 
Eric, king of Norway, in 1281, and his grand-daughter, 
Margaret, called the Maiden of Norway, became queen of 
Scotland, but died on the Orkney Islands, in her way to 
that country to take possession of the throne. 

— 1668. Died, in London, Sir John Denham, an emi¬ 
nent poet, born in, Dublin in 1615. His most famous 
production is a poem called “ Cooper’s Hill;” of which 
Dryden says, it will ever be the standard of good 
writing for majesty of style. Pope, also, has celebrated 
this poem in his “ Windsor Forest;” and all men of taste 
have agreed in their commendations of it. Dr. Johnson 
calls Denham one of the writers that improved our taste 
and advanced our language. 

— 1751. Captain Thomas Coram, the compassionate 
contriver and patron of the Foundling Hospital, died at 
his lodgings near Leicester Square. Of the numerous 
shocking spectacles he had often witnessed in his way to 
and from the merchant ship of which he was master, 
none affected him more forcibly than the lamentable situ¬ 
ation of exposed and deserted children, and he determined 
to erect an asylum for the succour and education of the 
neglected innocents. To the immortal honour of the 
female nobility of that time, they seconded his plan, and 
by the exertions which they made among the nobility and 
gentry, obtained a charter of foundation, and he had the 
happiness of living to see his benevolent object accom¬ 
plished. Towards the latter part of his life he was sup¬ 
ported by a pension of something more than ,£ J 100 a year. 
It may be remarked as a proof of his amiable disposition, 
that when Dr. Brocklesby applied to this good old man to 
know whether his setting on foot a subscription for his 
benefit w 7 ould offend him, he thus nobly answered: “ I 
have not wasted the little wealth of which I was formerly 
possessed in self-indulgence or vain expenses, and am not 


96 


MARCH. 


ashamed to confess that in old age I am poor.” See No. 
566 Arith. Quest., by the late William Butler. 

20, 1413. Henry IV. died in the Jerusalem chamber at 
Westminster. He was buried at Canterbury, the capital 
of Kent, and was succeeded by his heroic son Henry V. 
See Ecbatana, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

—1727- Expired Sir Isaac Newton, who was born at 
Woolstrope, near Grantham, in the county of Lincoln, 
Dec. 25, 1642. He received the early part of his educa¬ 
tion at Grantham, and completed his studies at Cam¬ 
bridge, where the rapidity of his progress in mathematical 
knowledge was truly astonishing. He perceived the the¬ 
orems and problems of Euclid, as it were, by intuition. 
At the age of tw'enty-four, he had laid the foundation of 
his most important discoveries. He was the first who 
gave a rational account of the laws which regulate the 
motion of the planets, on the principles of the attraction 
of gravitation: 

All intellectual eye, our solar round 
First gazing thro’, he, by the blended power 
Of gravitation and projection, saw 
The whole in silent harmony revolve. 

Thomson. 

Newton first discovered the heterogeneous mixture of 
light, and the production of colours arising from it. 

Even light itself, which every thing displays, 

Shone undiscover’d, till his brighter mind 
Untwisted all the shining robe of day; 

And from the whitening, undistinguished blaze, 

Collecting every ray into his kind, 

To the charm’d eye educed the gorgeous train 
Of parent colours. 

Thomson.* 

As it is not within the plan of this epitome even to 
mention all the works of such a man as Newton, we shall 
conclude this brief sketch by observing, that, as a philoso¬ 
pher and mathematician, he is generally allowed to have 
been one of the greatest geniuses that ever appeared in 
the world; and that he not only enlightened mankind by 
his talents, but bettered them by his amiable qualities: 


* We recommend to the perusal of young persous Thomson’s 
“ Poem on the Death of Newton,” as containing an enumeration 
of his principal philosophical labours, delivered in elegaut lan¬ 
guage and the most precise terms. 



MARCH. 


97 


He was as remarkable for Ids modesty, as for the supe¬ 
riority of Ids genius. He was interred in Westminster- 
Abbey, where a monument is erected to liis memory. 
The following is a translation of the epitaph designed by 
Pope for Sir Isaac Newton : 

Nature and all her works lay hid in night: 

God said, “ Let Newton be !” and all was light. 

20, 1751. Expired at Leicester-House, London, in the 
44th year of his age, Frederick, Prince of Wales, 
universally regretted. He was the son of George II., and 
father of his late Majesty George III. See Cliefden in 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1703. Expired William Murray, Earl of Mansfield, 
at Caen Wood, or Kenwood, between Hampstead and 
Higligate, born at Perth, in Scotland, March 2, 1705. 
He held the office of Lord Chief Justice of the King’s 
Bench for upwards of thirty years, with a splendour and 
reputation unrivalled; and the benevolence and disinter¬ 
estedness of his private life were in perfect unison with 
the excellence of his public character. Lord Mansfield 
was highly distinguished for his varied intellectual accom¬ 
plishments. Early in life he cultivated the Muses. He 
was the intimate friend of Pope, who laments that so fine 
a genius should be lost to Parnassus : 

How sweet an Ovid was in Murray lost! 

— 1804. Began the Spring Quarter, the sun having 
entered into the constellation <Y>, the ram,* at 3 minutes 
past 7 o’clock in the evening.f 

Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness, come, 

And from the bosom of yon dropping cloud 

Upon our plains descend. 

Thomson. 

This period is usually called the Vernal Equinox, 
when day and night are of equal length all over the globe; 
or rather, when the sun is an equal time above, and below 
the horizon. For the morning and evening twilight J 
make apparent day considerably longer than night. See 
September 23, 1830. 


* See Exercises on the Globes, art. Aries. 

f See White’s Ephemeris: it began in the year 1822, at 3 mi¬ 
nutes past 4 in the morning, on the 21st of March ; and in the 
current year, 1830, at 32 minutes past 2 in the morning. 

X See Exercises on the Globes, art. Twilight. 

f 




98 


MARCH. 


21, 1556. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
was burnt at Oxford for heresy,* in the 67th year of his 
age, in the reign of the sanguinary Mary. His learning 
and piety procured him universal respect; and the cou¬ 
rage of his martyrdom made him the hero of the Protes¬ 
tant party. He was born at Aslacton, near Nottingham. 

— 1801. Battle of Alexandria. The English gained 
a memorable victory over the French near Alexandria, in 
Egypt. See the 28th of this month, 1801. 

— 1829. An Earthquake of a most awful description, 
attended with great loss of lives, took place in the pro¬ 
vince of Mercia, Spain. 

22, 1740. Porto Bello, on the isthmus of Darien, sur¬ 
rendered to Admiral Vernon. See November 2, 1502, and 
MisceL Quest 

23, 1801. The Emperor Paul, of Russia, was assassinated 
at Petersburgli by a band of conspirators, who strangled 
him by means of a sash, one end of which was held by 
Zubof, while another ruffian drew the other, till their vic¬ 
tim expired. It is scarcely credible that not one of the 
assassins of his father was punished but by banishment 
from Petersburgh by his son Alexander, who succeeded 
to the throne. (See December 1, 1825.) The eccentric- 
wildness of Paul’s conduct, and the sudden changes of his 
temper, can only be excused on the plea of insanity. The 
frivolity of his disposition, as well as the weakness of his 
understanding, are strikingly exemplified in a publication, 
entitled, “ Secret Memoirs of the Court of Petersburgh/’ 

24, 1603. Queen Elizabeth died at Richmond, in Surrey, 
in the 70th year of her age, and the 45th of her reign. 
She was the last of the Tudor race.—A dark cloud over¬ 
cast the evening of her day. She fell into a profound 
melancholy, which all the advantages of her high fortune, 
all the glories of her prosperous reign, were unable in any 
degree to alleviate or assuage. Various reasons have been 
assigned for this depression of mind; but it seems most 
probable to have been occasioned by some incidents hap¬ 
pening which revived her tenderness for Essex, and filled 
her with the deepest sorrow for the consent which she 


* Heresy is an error in some essential point of Christian faith, 
maintained with obstinacy and disingenuousness. This is the 
sense in which Protestants use the word; but when a Papist em¬ 
ploys the term heretics, he generally means Protestants. Divines, 
lv>wever, have too often branded all those who differ from them¬ 
selves with the name of heretics. 



MARCH. 


99 


had unwarily given to his execution.* * * § She was born at 
Greenwich, in Kent, and was interred in Westminster 
Abbey. 

24, 1726. Died Daniel Whitby, a celebrated English 
divine, author of more than forty works, full of good sense 
and learning; but the most considerable is his “ Para¬ 
phrase and Commentary on the New Testament,” in 2 
vols. folio. He was born in 1638, at Rushden, a village 
situated one mile from Higham Ferrers, and to the east 
of Northampton. 

25, Annunciation. This word denotes the tidings brought 
by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, of the incar¬ 
nation of Christ.f It also implies a festival, kept by the 
Established Church on this day, in commemoration of 
these tidings. Its origin is referred to the seventh cen¬ 
tury. In England, before the alteration of the style,J our 
new year began on the 25th of March; and, in some ec¬ 
clesiastical computations, that order is still preserved; 
particularly in reckoning the number of years from the 
incarnation of our Saviour. In Scotland, the 1st of Ja¬ 
nuary was ordered by proclamation (Nov. 27, 1599) to be 
the beginning of the year there, instead of the 25th of 
March. The 25th of March, usually called Lady-Day, 
is moreover one of the four days in the year on which 
house-rent and interest on money are generally stipulated 
to be paid.§ 


* See February 25, 1601. 

t See Luke i. 26—28. The angel Gabriel’s salutation of the 
Virgin is a formula of devotion very usual in the Romish Church: 
it was added to their prayers by order of Pope John XXII., in 
the fourteenth century, and is termed Ave-Maria, or Ave-Mary, 
because it begins with these words, Ave, Maria, q. d. Hail, Mary. 
The chaplets and rosaries of the Romanists are divided into so 
many ave-mart/s, and so many pater-nosters : \\ and hence the 
beads themselves, which indicate them, are also called aves, or 
ave-marys. The chaplets and rosaries are bunches or strings of 
beads used to keep an account of the number of paternosters and 
ave-marys to be rehearsed at stated times, in honour of God 
and the Holy Virgin. 

+ See September 2, 1752. 

§ The other three are, Midsummer-Day, or Feast of St. John 
the Baptist (June 24), Michaelmas-Day (Sept. 29), and St. 
Thomas’s-Day (Dec. 21). 


» Hhe Lord's Prayer ; from the Latin, pater, father, and noster, our. 

F 2 






100 


MARCH. 


25, 1306. Robert Bruce, grandson of Baliol’s compe¬ 
titor for the crown of Scotland, was crowned at Scone. 
The crown was placed upon his head by Isabel, the sister 
of Macduff, Earl of Fife, who had married Comyn, Earl 
of Buchan. The countess was afterwards incarcerated 
by Edward I. in the castle of Berwick. 

— 1688. Charity-Schools. In order to retain the 
lower class of people in the Protestant religion, Charity- 
Schools were first instituted for children in and about 
London. The first were opened at Norton-Falgate and 
St. Margaret’s, Westminster. No country in the world 
can present so grand a spectacle as that which is annually * 
exhibited at St. Paul’s Cathedral, when upwards of ten 
thousand children, rescued from vice and ignorance, as¬ 
semble under one roof to sing anthems of praise to their 
Creator. Rome, in the most splendid sera of her 
greatness, and with all nations at her feet, could not boast 
of a single Charity-School! “A charity boy, going to 
church on the Sabbath, with a Bible or a Prayer-Book 
under his arm, is,” says Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, 

“ one of the noblest sights this world affords!” Such 
are thy triumphs, Christianity! 

— 1748. Afire broke out in Exchange Alley, Cornhill, 
which proved one of the most terrible that had happened 
since the great fire. See Sept. 2, 1666. 

— 1809. Died, in the 66tli year of her age, in the Epis¬ 
copal Palace of Lichfield, in Staffordshire, Anna Seward, 
an excellent English poetess, whose works are distin¬ 
guished by beauty of imagery, strength of intellect, and 
delicacy of taste. She wrote a beautiful elegy on Captain 
Cook;—a monody on her gallant and amiable friend 
Major Andrd, whose fate was the subject of universal re¬ 
gret in this country;—a Life of Dr. Darwin, and other 
esteemed works. Her Correspondence in 6 volumes has 
been lately published. (See Cook, Andrd, and Darwin, 
Index ; and Lichfield, Bourn’s Gaz .) Miss Seward was 
born at Eyam, in the north part of Derbyshire. 

— 182/. The Ship Hecla, with Captain Parry on 
board, sailed from Deptford on his fourth northern voyage. 
See May 8, 1821. 

26, 1756. Died by a stroke of the palsy, at Wickham, 
near Bromley, in Kent, Dr. Gilbktt West, a pious and 
learned English gentleman, who wrote on revealed re¬ 
ligion. His “Observations on the Resurrection,” and 
his conversation, suggested to the celebrated Lord Lyttle- 
ton such convincing evidences of the truth of the New 


MARCH. 


101 


Testament, as produced that noble author’s fine “ Disser¬ 
tation on St. Paul.”* Dr. West also translated “ Pindar’s 
Odesof which translation Dr. Johnson says, “It is the 
product of great labour and great abilities.” Of this 
pleasing poet and pious Christian, the Doctor also said, 
“ that he was one of the few poets to whom a death-bed 
would not be terrible.” 

27, 1625. James I. expired at Theobalds, near Cheshunt, 
in Hertfordshire. This seat formerly belonged to the 
great Lord Burleigh, who often entertained Queen Eliza¬ 
beth at this palace. James was the son of Mary, Queen 
of Scots, whom he succeeded in Scotland, as he did Eli¬ 
zabeth in England. He reigned over England twenty- 
two years and some days. His reign over Scotland was 
almost of equal duration with his life ; and he died in the 
59th year of his age. See Aug. 20, 1589. Sully called 
him the wisest fool in Christendom. 

— 1767* Expired at Bristol-Wells, Mary Mason, aged 
28. She was the daughter of William Sherman, Esq., of 
Kingston-upon-Hull, in Yorkshire, and was interred in 
Bristol Cathedral. The following exquisite inscription 
from the pen of her affectionate husband, (see April 5, 
1 797,) is universally allowed to be one of the finest epi- 
taphsf in the English language: 

Take, holy earth, all that my soul holds dear, 

Take that best gift, which Heav ’11 so lately gave : 

To Bristol’s fount I bore, with trembling care, 

Her faded form—she bow’d to taste the wave, 

And died ! Does youth, does beauty read the line ? 

Does sympathetic fear their breast alarm ? 

Speak, dead Maria ; breathe a strain divine— 

E’en from the grave thou shalt have power to charm ! 

Bid them be chaste, be innocent like thee; 

Bid them in duty’s sphere as meekly move, 

And if so fair, from vanity as free, 

As firm in friendship, and as fond in love ! 

Tell them, though ’tis an awful thing to die, 

(’Twas e’en to thee)—yet the dread path once trod, 
Heav’n lifts its everlasting portals high, 

And bids the pure in heart behold their God.+ 


* See August 22, 1773, and Exercises on the New Test ament, 
3rd edit, page 151. 

f See Arith. Quest, art. Epitaph j March 14, 1803, and Aug. 
22, 1773. 

+ See Matt. v. 8. The subsequent lines on an amiable and 



102 


MARCH. 


27, 1802. Articles of Peace were signed between England 
and France, at Amiens, in the north part of France. See 
October 1, 1801. 

28, 1677. Expired in Westminster, in the 70th year of his 
age, Wentzel Hollar, an eminent and much-admired 
engraver, born at Prague,* * the capital of Bohemia. He 
was brought to England by the earl of Arundel in 1636, 
where he engraved some of the choicest pieces of Titian/f- 
Durer,f Holbein,f Vandyck,f Teniers, and many others; 
also the heads of the most eminent men in church and 
state, in the army and navy, &c., besides landscapes, 
views, &c., of the most capital places in Europe. It is 
painful to relate, that this illustrious and indefatigable 
artist, either through the want of economy, or more pro¬ 
bably from the illiberality of his employers, died in very 
indigent circumstances. 

— 1757. Robert Damiens, a native of Arras, in the 
province of Artois, department of the Straits of Calais, 
was executed at Paris, with torture, for having attempted 
to assassinate the king of France, by stabbing him in the 
right side with a knife. See Jan. 5, 1757, May 14, 1610, 
and August 28, 1794. The punishment inflicted on him 
was of the most dreadful kind: his right hand was burnt— 
he was torn with pincers—melted lead was poured into 
his wounds—then drawn and quartered, and finally burnt, 
and his ashes scattered to the winds. 

— 1766. A dreadful eruption of Mount Vesuvius hap¬ 
pened. The first occurred in the year 79, when Pliny 
the elder was suffocated. See Arith, Quest. 

— 1801. Died the gallant Sir Ralph Abercrombie, 
commander-in-chief of the British forces in Egypt. He 
received his death-wound on the 21st, in the moment of 
achieving a great victory over the French at Alexandria, 
which eventually led to the evacuation of Egypt by the 
army of France. Sir Ralph was a native of Scotland, and 
wa’s interred in the island of Malta. A beautiful monu- 


virtuous female, of “ form divine,” are not only pre-eminently 
beautiful, but, like the concluding line in the above epitaph, 
happily allusive to a grand consolatory declaration of sacred 
Scripture ; see Luke xx. 36. 

Rest, gentle shade ! and wait thy Maker’s will: 

Then rise unchang’d, and be an angel still. 

* See Oct. 14, 1601, and Prague, Index, 
t See Venice, Nuremberg, Basil, Antwerp, Bourn’s Gaz. 




MARCH. 


103 


meiit to tlie memory of this brave officer has been erected 
in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

28, 1802. Dr. Olbers, of Bremen, a town on the river 
Weser, in the north-west part of Germany, discovered a 
new primary planet, which he named Pallas.* For this 
discovery, together with succeeding observations on the 
same planet, the National Institute of Paris decreed the 
prize-medal of Lalande, for the best annual work on 
astronomy, to Dr. Olbers. See Marcli 29, 1807- 

29, The Festival of Epaphroditus. This bishop, or, as 
St. Paul calls him, apostle of Philippi; or, if we take the 
word apostolus literally, the messenger of the Philippians; 
was sent by that church to carry money to the apostle, 
then in bonds at Rome, and in their name to do him 
service. He executed the commission with much zeal, 
and exposed himself to great risks, whereby he brought 
on himself a dangerous illness, which obliged him to re¬ 
main long at Rome. The year following, A. D. 62 or 63, 
he returned with haste to Philippi, having heard that the 
Philippians, on receiving information of his sickness, 
were much afflicted. St. Paul sent a letter by him to 
them. See the Epistle to the Philippians. 

— 1461. Being Palm-Sunday, was fought the famous 
battle of Towton, in the parish of Saxton, about 12 
miles south from York, between the deluded adherents of 
the houses of York and Lancaster; which terminated in 
favour of the Yorkists, after a slaughter of 36,000 human 
beings. From the number of nobility and gentry, the 
magnitude of the opposing armies, and the furious lead¬ 
ers, Towton has been called the English Pharsalia. Ed¬ 
ward IV. commanded the Yorkists. The Lancastrians 
were under the command of the Duke of Somerset, the 
Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Clifford; but the 
latter was shot in the throat before the engagement began. 

Palm-Sunday received its name from branches of the 
palm-tree being strewed before our Saviour on his trium¬ 
phal entry into Jerusalem. See Butler’s Exer. on the 
New. Test. No. 83, 4th edit. 

— 1807. The planet Vesta was discovered by Dr. Ol¬ 
bers. See March 28, 1802. There are now eleven pri¬ 
mary and eighteen secondary planets belonging to the 
Solar System. See Exer. on the Globes , art. Vesta. 


* See Jan. 1, 1801, March 13, 1781, and Exer. on the Globes , 
art. Minerva, Pallas, and Vesta. 



104 


MARCH. 


30, 1282. The Sicilian Vespers. The word “ vespers’' 
in the Romish Church means evening song , answering to 
our evening prayers. Sicilian vespers denote a famous 
era in the French history; being a general massacre of all 
the French in the island of Sicily, to which the first toll 
that called to Vespers was the signal. The number de¬ 
stroyed was computed at 8000. See Matins, May 27, 
1600. 

— 1726. Expired, piously and calmly, at Exeter, the Rev. 
James Peirce, an eminent Dissenting divine, whose 
great learning, happily joined with a penetrating genius 
and solid judgment, seem to have left it doubtful whether 
his excellent endowments of nature, or his acquired abi¬ 
lities, rendered him more conspicuous. He faithfully dis¬ 
charged all the parts of his sacred office, and was equally 
celebrated for his accurate sermons and learned writings. 
In his private life he was consistently exemplary; having 
an habitual prevailing awe and reverence of God upon his 
mind, a sincere and ardent love of truth, and a steady, 
uniform regard to virtue. Yet, neither the distinguished 
erudition, the peaceable and inoffensive deportment, nor 
the unaffected piety of this excellent man, could shield 
him from reproach and obloquy. For, his opinions on 
some abstract points of religion not being in unison with 
the popular belief, a phalanx of intemperate zealots, who 
considered themselves as the standards of truth and ortho¬ 
doxy, misrepresented his sentiments, called him odious 
names, calumniated his character, and finished the career 
of their fury and malice by actually hunting him from the 
pulpit. While thus recording a lamentable instance of 
infuriated bigotry and unprovoked persecution, it is highly 
gratifying to reflect, that the present age displays a pros¬ 
pect very different from the pitiable scenes exhibited in 
the days of religious intolerance; and that most of the 
various sects and denominations of Christians now mani¬ 
fest a liberality of sentiment, and a spirit of religious to¬ 
leration, unparalleled in any former period. 

Mr. Peirce was born in Wapping, London, in the year 
1673; received the early part of his education under pri¬ 
vate tutors, and afterwards completed his studies at the 
University of Utrecht, in the United Provinces. His 
principal works are, “ A Vindication of the Dissenters 
several “ pamphlets” (occasioned by the violent disputes 
among the Dissenting Ministers in the West of England, 
concerning some speculative doctrines of Christianity); 
“ A Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul to the Co- 


MARCH. 


105 


lossians, Philippians, and Hebrews,” (after the manner of 
Mr. Locke), to which are annexed, “ Several Critical 
Dissertations on particular Texts of Scriptureand a 
volume of “ Sermons,” to which is added, “ A Scripture 
Catechism” in the words of the Bible. From this last, 
the late Rev. Samuel Palmer, of Hackney, acknowledged 
to have taken the plan of his excellent “ Scripture Cate¬ 
chism,” which has most deservedly gone through many 
editions. 

30, 1799. The gallant Sir Sidney Smith repulsed Bona¬ 
parte in a violent attack on the fort of St. John d’Acre. 
This once noble city, now only a heap of ruins, is situated 
on the Levant, (the eastern part of the Mediterranean 
Sea,) north-west of Jerusalem, and about 30 miles south 
of Tyre. It was several times taken and retaken by the 
Infidels and Christians in the holy wars; our valiant 
Richard I. was in possession of it in 1191; and it was 
here that Edward I. (then prince) received a wound from 
a poisoned dagger, which his amiable and heroic consort 
cured by sucking the venom out of it, at the risk of her 
own life.* St. John was the tutelary saint of Acre. 
Christianity was early established here; for it was at this 
place, then known by the name of Ptolemais, that Paul 
visited the saints in his way to Jerusalem, Acts xxi. 7* It 
has been sometimes called Acra, Accho, Acca, and Ace. 
See Eater, on the New Test. 

— 1813. Was interred at Leicester, where he had resided 
thirty-nine years, the Rev. Thomas Robinson, who sus¬ 
tained the important office of a Christian Minister with 
great credit to our holy religion. He was, indeed, a bril¬ 
liant example of the true pastoral character—zealous, be¬ 
cause sincere—pious without fanaticism—devoted to his 
principles without bigotry—tolerant in the true spirit of 
charity—and unremittingly laborious; because to do good 
was the governing affection of his soul. There is scarcely 
any beneficial establishment in Leicester that does not 
owe much of its prosperity to his indefatigable exertions; 
and of many of them he was the parent and patron.—His 
various publications are popular, particularly his “ Scrip¬ 
ture Characters.” Mr. Robinson died, after an illness of 
onlv a few hours, on the 24th of March, in the 64th year 
of his age; and the inhabitants of Leicester have erected 
a handsome monument to his memory. 

— 1828. On Sunday, at half-past Seven o’clock in the 


* See Exer. on the Globes , 11th edit., art. Crux. 

f 3 






106 


MARCH. 


morning’, Lima was visited with a very destructive shock 
of an earthquake. Its direction was from east to west; 
and although it did not last above 40 seconds, it left 
scarcely a building in the city uninjured. The massy 
walls of the churches were torn from top to bottom ; the 
steeples, and particularly the cupolas, were rent ; the 
ornaments of brick and plaster thrown down. In private 
houses the destruction was almost universal. Resides 
those which fell at the moment, several fell afterwards. 
Between thirty and forty lives were lost. The loss of 
property was estimated at 6,000,000 of dollars. At Callao 
the shock was felt after the dust was seen to rise at Lima, 
so that it had proceeded from the mountains towards the 
sea. The sensation of it on ship-board was the same as 
when a ship thumps violently at the bottom. The sea, 
which was before calm, suddenly bubbled and boiled all 
round, became turbid with mud and sand, even in 25 
fathoms’ water, and continued to send up large air-bells 
for a considerable time afterwards. 

31, 1518. Henry II. of France was born at St. Germain, 
and, on the same day, in 1547, came to the throne, on the 
death of his father, Francis I., who died at Rambouillet, 
in the province of the Isle of France, department of Seine 
and Oise, two months after his contemporary, Henry VIII. 
of England. See January 28. 

— 1596. Was born, at La Haye, in Touraine,* Dks 
Cartes, an eminent philosopher and mathematician. He 
died in 1650, at Stockholm, to which city he had been in¬ 
vited by Christina, who wished to profit from his instruc¬ 
tions, and who received lessons from him in her library 
every morning at 5 o’clock. He was buried at Stockholm ; 
but in 1667 his corpse was removed to France, and re-in¬ 
terred with great funeral pomp in the church of Saint 
Genevieve-du-Mont, at Paris. 

— 1621. Philip III. died at Madrid. His death was oc¬ 
casioned by his scrupulous attention to etiquette. Be¬ 
ing extremely incommoded by the great heat of a stove 
«i an apartment in which he was holding a levee, and the 
officer whose duty it was to attend to the fire being absent, 
and no one daring or condescending to extinguish the 
fire, the king, who had recently recovered from an illness. 


* Touraine now forms the department of Indre and Loire; 
Haye is seated on the River Creuse, 25 miles south of Tours. 
See Wallis’s Atlas of France, and Bourn’s Gazetteer. 




MARCH. 10/ 

relapsed and died soon after, in the 43rd year of his age, 
and the 22nd of his reign. 

31, 1654. Cock-fighting was prohibited by Cromwell. 
It must appear astonishing to every reflecting mind, that 
a mode of diversion so cruel and inhuman as that of cock- 
fighting should so generally prevail; that not only the 
ancients, barbarians, Greeks, and Romans, should have 
adopted it; but that a practice so savage and Heathenish 
should be continued in these better and more enlightened 
times of Christianity; a religion the purest, the tenderest, 
and most compassionate of all others. It is with great 
pleasure we learn, that this and some other savage cus¬ 
toms are at present on the decline among us. Cock- 
fighting, bear-baiting, badger-baiting, &c, have received 
a severe blow, in many places, from a most laudable reso¬ 
lution of the justices not to grant licences to such publi¬ 
cans as encourage those cruel pastimes at their houses. 
The vigilant exertions of the Society for the Suppres¬ 
sion of Vice, whose views extend to the prevention of 
every species of cruelty to animals, will also greatly tend 
to extirpate those inhumanized amusements. See May 
24, 1802. 

— 1783. Expired, at Petersburgh, Count Panin, one of 
the principal chiefs of the conspiracy that placed Catha¬ 
rine II. on the throne of Russia. He died of grief and 
chagrin, a fatal malady to which discarded ministers of 
state are very liable. From the moment when Potemkin* 
resisted him in the council, and deprived him of the ma¬ 
nagement of affairs, he began visibly to decline, and was 
a stranger to all repose of mind but what he looked for 
in death. Prince Orloff, a much more culpable coad¬ 
jutor in that sanguinary business, closed his term of life 
in a still more tremendous manner at Moscow, in April 
of the same year. The bleeding shade of Peter III f pur¬ 
sued him into every retreat; haunted his affrighted mind 
by day, and scared him in the visions of the night: he 
beheld it incessantly aiming at him an avenging dart; and 
he expired in despair, awfully verifying the remark, that 
“Horror gnaws, the guilty soul of dying sinners.”! 

What nothing earthly gives, or can destroy, 

The soul’s calm sun-shine, and the heartfelt joy, 

Is virtue’s prize. Pope. 

* See October 15, 1791. f See July 9 and 17, 1762. 

X This subject is pursued at some length in the late author’s 

Arith, Quest, art. Death of Cardinal Beaufort. 





( 108 ) 


APRIL. 

Mindful of disasters past, 

And shrinking at the northern blast. 

The sleety storm returning still. 

The morning hoar, the evening chill; 

Reluctant comes the timid Spring. 

Warton - . 

April, the fourth month in the year, derived its name 
from Aprilis, of aperio , to open; because the earth in this 
month begins to open her bosom for the production of 
flowers and vegetables. 

The name to Spring’s soft op’ning pow’r they give ; 

Soon as the rugged blasts of Winter cease, 

Then genial spring, they say, yields her increase. 

Massey’s Ovid’s Fasti. 

On this account, artists represent April by a young man 
in green, with a garland of myrtle and hawthorn-buds; in 
one hand primroses aud violets, in the other the sign Tau¬ 
rus,* the constellation through part of which the sun travels 
in this month. 

When daisies pied, and violets blue, 

And lady-smocks all silver-white, 

And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, 

Do paint the meadows with delight. 

Shakspkare. 

Another pleasing occurrence in this month is the various 
melody with which the groves are filled, when, as “ the 
poet of the Seasons” expresses it, every copse, and tree, 
and bush, is prodigal of harmony. Among these the return 
of “ Sweet Philomel” deserves to be particularly noticed: 

Now the wise nightingale, that leaves her home, 
Pursuing constantly the cheerful Spring, 

To foreign groves does her old music bring. 

Waller. 

This bird, the most famed of the feathered tribe for the 
variety, length, and sweetness of its notes, visits England 
from the continent, crossing the sea, where it is narrowest. 


* See Exer. on the Globes. 


f 



APRIL. 10.9 

between Dover and Calais, in the beginning of April, and 
leaves us in August. 

V 

Sweet poet of the woods—a long adieu! 

Farewell, soft minstrel of the early year ! 

Ah ! ’twill be long ere thou shah sing anew, 

And pour thy music on the “ night’s dull ear.” 

Charlotte Smith. 

During its continuance here, its range is confined to a 
part of this island : it is not found in Scotland,* Ireland, or 
North Wales, nor in any of the northern counties, except 
Yorkshire: and it does not migrate so far to the west as 
Devonshire and Cornwall; being seldom found more than 
170 miles from Dover.f It begins its song in the evening, 
and continues it the whole night: 

Poor melancholy bird—that all night long 
Tell’st to the moon thy tale of tender woe. 

Charlotte Smith. 

Hence Milton, in his Paradise Lost, aptly terms the 
nightingale “ the night-warbling bird and in his poem 
entitled “ II Penseroso,” he thus speaks of this enchanting 
songstress: 

Sweet bird, that shun’st the noise of folly, 

Most musical, most melancholy ! 

Thee, chauntress, oft, the woods among, 

I woo to hear thy even song. 

And also in his fifth elegy, written on the arrival of Spring, 
the imagery of which was afterwards transferred into his 
first sonnet: 

O Nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray 
Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still. 

Milton’s beloved retreat was on Forest Hill, three miles 
from Oxford. The beauties of this spot are described in 
that fine passage of his L’Allegro—“ Sometime walking, 
not unseen,” &c., &c. The groves near this enchanting 
village are said to be still famous for nightingales. 

Another of the feathered race, “ attendant on the spring,” 
that renews his note at this charming season, is the cuckoo: 


* The nightingale is enumerated among the birds of Sweden, 
by Dr. Thomson. 

f See White’s Nat. Hist, of Selbourne, and Exer. on the Globes, 
art. Migration. 



110 


APRIL. 


Delightful visitant; with thee 
I hail the time of flowers, 

When heaven is fill’d with music sweet 
Of birds among the bowers. 

Logan. 

Early in this month, too, that welcome guest and harbin¬ 
ger of spring, the swallow, returns : 

“ The swallow, for a moment seen, 

Skims in haste the village green.”* 

The 24th of February is marked, in the old Roman 
calendar, for the day in which swallows began to appear 
in Italy; but their appearance in England is not before 
April. 

Am I deceived ? Dost not the swallow bring 

Now welcome news; forerunner of the Spring ? 

But thou hast, Progne,f often cause to moan, 

For coming back before the Winter’s gone. 

***** 

The swallow then forsakes her wint’ry rest, 

And in the chimney chatt’ring makes her nest. 

Massey’s Ovicl's Fasti. 

A sarcastic remark of our great bard, which we trust will 
be received with the allowance usually granted to poetic 
license, shall conclude our account of this month : 

Men are April when they woo, DecemberX when they wed : 
Maids are May when they are maids; but the sky changes when 
they are wives. 

Shakspeare. 


* The migration of various birds, though rather a curious than 
an important inquiry, is, nevertheless, one which must be highly 
gratifying to every mind that can admire the wisdom of the Great 
Architect of Nature. The instinct of the swallow is indeed 
wonderful: it appears among us just at the time when insects 
become numerous; and it continues with us during the hot wea¬ 
ther, in order to prevent them from multiplying too much. It 
disappears when these insects are no longer troublesome. It is 
never found in solitude; it is the friend of man, and always takes 
up its residence with us, that it may protect our houses aud our 
streets from being annoyed with swarms of flies. See Exer. on 
the Globes , art. Hirundo and Migration. 

t For Procne, or Progne, see Lempriere’s Class. Diet. 

I See December. 



APRIL. 


Ill 


REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, Is vulgarly called April-Fool Day, from the practice 
of passing some joke or deception upon children or igno¬ 
rant persons. The French, who have a similar custom 
on the first of April, term the object of this mockery un 
poisson d’Avril , a name which they likewise give to the 
mackerel, a silly fish that is easily caught in vast multi¬ 
tudes during this season. We have, it is conjectured, 
borrowed the practice from our neighbours, changing the 
appellation from fish to fool. There is good reason for 
believing, that with us the custom is of no very great 
antiquity, as none of our old plays, nor any writer so old 
as the time of Queen Elizabeth, have any allusion to it. 
In Scotland it is termed hunting the gowk, a term applied 
to some simpleton who is sent on sleeveless errands with 
a letter in whichds written— 

On the first day of April, 

Hunt the gowk another mile. 

And he is thus made to waste his weary steps till the fraud 
is discovered. 

But ’tis a thing to be disputed, 

Which is the greatest fool reputed, 

The man that innocently went. 

Or he that him design’dly sent. 

With respect to the origin of the custom among the 
French, nothing satisfactory has been offered, the subject 
having ineffectually exercised the skill of their own anti¬ 
quaries. 

The first of April, some do say. 

Is set apart for All-fools’ Day ; 

But why the people call it so, 

Nor I, nor they themselves do know. 

Poor Robin's Almanack. 

Among the ancient Romans, a day is marked in their 
calendar as consecrated to Fools — Dies'JStultorum, or the 
Fools’ Day. Once every year a festival was held in honour 
of the Goddess Fornax, who taught the Romans the 
mystery of baking bread. On the day of celebration little 
tablets were suspended round the forum, directing the 
city-wards to what temple they were to repair; and the 
joke or trick consisted in calling those persons fools who 
could not read the labels, and whose ignorance therefore 


112 


APRIL. 


prevented them from resorting to the place of entertain¬ 
ment till it was too late to share in the festivity. 

The master of the city-wards proclaim’d 
Her solemn feast, then Fornacalia nam’d ; 

No stated day the sacred fasti show, 

But that the people might th’ appointment know, 

There round the forum little tablets hung, 

Declaring to what fane what wards belong; 

But such as could not read, and foolish were, 

And knew not to what temple to repair, 

By ridiculing wags were made a jest, 

And only in the ev’ning kept the feast. 

Indeed, we may readily believe that all nations have had, 
or ought to have, some particular period dedicated to 
Fools , as the great mass of mankind can sympathize with 
its observance; for , as a fine modern writer says, ice 
have all a touch of the same. 

1, 1405. Timour, or Tabierlane, a famous Asiatic con- 
querer, died at Otrar in Western Tartary. See Bourn’s 
Gazetteer, art. Ak-Shehr, Angoura, Keseh, Kupele, 
Otrar, Zagatai. 

— 1406. Robert III., king of Scotland, died of grief at 
Rothsay. See Flamborough Head and Paisley, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer; also February 21, 1457- 

— 1771- At Flaxley, about ten miles from Gloucester, 
an accidental fire destroyed a magnificent abbey, which 
was built in the reign of Henry I.* .An abbey is a mo¬ 
nastery or house of retirement for religious persons, 
whether men or women. 

With easy roads he came to Leicester ;f 
Lodg’d in the Abbey, where the reverend abbot, 

With all his convent, honourably receiv’d him. 

Shakspeare. 

The monasteries in England were destroyed by Henry 
VIII., the proud asserter of the Pope’s supremacy, and 
its triumphant destroyer, about the year 1558.+ Monas¬ 
tic establishments were suppressed in France soon after 


* See December 1, 1135. f See November 28, 1530. 

X Dr. Johnson, having once recommended to two young gen¬ 
tlemen to read the History of England, asked them some months 
afterwards, if they could recollect who first destroyed the mo¬ 
nasteries in our Island. One modestly replied he did not know; 
the other said, Jesus Christ. Mrs. Piozzi’s Artec. 




APRIL. 113 

the commencement of the Revolution. See January 13, 
1791. 

1, 1801, The passage of the Sound was effected (in spite 
of the fortresses hitherto deemed impregnable) by that 
gallant officer, Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, who died in 
1811, in the 89th year of his age. The Sound is a strait 
leading out of the Cattegat into the Baltic Sea, between 
the island of Zealand and the south part of Sweden. 

— 1810. Marriage of Bonaparte to Maria Louisa, 
Archduchess of Austria, daughter of Francis II. The 
civil union took place at St. Cloud;* the public entry 
into Paris, and the religious ceremony followed on the 
next day ; the latter was performed in the chapel of the 
Louvre. Many days of revellings, rejoicings, illumina¬ 
tions, &c., succeeded this extraordinary event. 

Thus he in acts of prowess eminent 
And great exploits, but of true virtue void ; 

Who having spilt much blood, and done much waste, 
Subduing nations, and achieved thereby 
Fame in the world, high titles, and rich prey, 

Has changed his course to pleasure. Milton. 

The issue of this marriage has been Napoleon Joseph, 
born March 20, 1811, and immediately created King of 
Rome, a title which has been discontinued since the de¬ 
position of his father, and succeeded by that of Duke of 
Reichstadt. Reichstadt is in Bohemia, has a castle and 
a good estate, which is at nurse during the young Duke’s 
minority. The Ex-Empress, Louisa, was, in 1814, de¬ 
clared Arch-Duchess of Parma, a fertile district in the 
north of Italy. 

2, 1512. Florida, a considerable country in the south 
part of North America, was re-discoveredf by Ponce de 
Leon, an able Spanish navigator, but who undertook this 
voyage from the most absurd motive that can be well 
imagined; viz. the discovery of a fountain whose waters 
had the property of restoring youth to all old men who 
had tasted them. The Floridas, East and West, have 
been ceded by Spain to the United States of America. 
The latter have thus acquired an arrondisement highly ad¬ 
vantageous to the integrity and compactness of their soil; 


* See Aug. 1, 1589, and Bourn’s Gazetteer. 
f It was first discovered by Sebastian Cabot, in 1497. He was 
a native of Bristol, but the son of a Venetian. 



114 


APRIL. 


and their territory is rendered more contiguous to the 
British West-India islands. St. Augustine, the capital of 
East Florida, and Pensacola, the capital of West Florida, 
also give to the United States a desirable port on the At¬ 
lantic, and on the Gulf of Mexico. 

2, 1755. Commodore James captured Severndroog Castle 
(on the Malabar Coast, six miles south of Bombay, in 
Asia), belonging to Angria, a noted pirate, formidable by 
his power and depredations. To commemorate this 
heroic event, and to manifest her affectionate respect to 
the memory of her deceased husband,* Lady James 
erected, in 1784, on the northern brow of Shooter’s-Hill, 
Kent, a triangular building, the summit of which is up¬ 
wards of 140 feet higher than the top of St. Paul’s cu¬ 
pola. The spot on which it is built possesses, indeed, 
so commanding an aspect, that it has been selected by 
government for the site of a telegraph,f which commu¬ 
nicates on one side with the Admiralty, in London, and 
on the other with the flag ship at the Nore, a noted place 
near the mouth of the river Thames. 

— 1801. Lord Nelson, after a very severe engagement, 
gained a complete victory over the Danes, off Copen¬ 
hagen, when 18 sail of ships were either captured or 
destroyed. Our loss of men was considerable, besides 
the death of Captains Moss and Riou, two very brave and 
gallant officers, to whose memory monuments have been 
erected in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

— 1804. Was lost his Majesty’s ship the Apollo, and 
forty of her convoy, on the coast of Portugal, three 
leagues north of Cape Mondego, when on her passage to 
the West Indies. 

3, 33. Jesus Christ suffered a painful and ignominious 
death by crucifixion^ at Jerusalem, The ingenious Fer¬ 
guson, in his Astronomical Essays , has fully proved that 
the darkness which then happened was supernatural. The 
events which occurred during this shocking scene are 
well expressed in the subsequent lines : 

Within the volume of my time I’ve seen 
Hours dreadful and things strange; but that sore time 


* See Dec. 16, 1783. 
f See Arith. Quest, art. Telegraph. 

I See Exer. on the Globes , art. Crux, and Geo. Exer. on the 
New Test. 



APRIL. 


115 


Did trifle former knowings; the high heavens, 

As troubled at man’s act, in hideous sort 
Threaten’d this bloody stage; the cumb’rous earth 
Was feverish ; and you, ye elements. 

Forgot your use ; the sun was sick to death ; 

The moon withdrew her light; and the fix’d stars 
Hid their faint beams; all nature stood appall’d; 

Man, not e’en man, dared look on what he’d done. 

For those, who late with hands injurious smote 
The Son of Mary’s breast, now smote their own 
In dread astonishment. Gil bank. 

3, 1826. Reginald Heber, bishop of Calcutta, died at 
Trichinopoly, in Hindostan, in the 42d year of his age. 
In 1803, his poem of Palestine gained the prize for English 
verse at Oxford. His father, who was present in the the¬ 
atre, and had the felicity of witnessing the success of his 
son, when only 10 years of age, soon after died, as it is 
supposed, from excess of joy. The bishop’s death was 
accelerated by his exertions in endeavouring to extend 
the benefits of the gospel in India. 

Joy is said to have caused the death of Sophocles, of 
Pope Leo X.,* and of Oughtred the mathematician. 

4, 1581. Queen Elizabeth dined at Deptford, on board the 
Pelican, the ship in which DRAKEf had circumnavigated 
the globe, and after dinner conferred on him the honour 
of knighthood. This celebrated vessel was afterwards 
broken up ; and a chair, made out of the relics, was pre¬ 
sented to the University of Oxford : upon which Cowley} 
wrote the following verses : 

To this great ship which round the Globe has run. 

And match’d in race the chariot of the Sun, 

This Pythagorean§ ship, (for it may claim, 

Without presumption, so deserv’d a name. 

By knowledge once, and transformation now,) 

In her new shape this sacred port allow. 

Drake and his ship could not have wish’d, from fate, 

A more bless'd station, or more bless’d estate, 

For lo ! a seat of endless rest is given 
To her in Oxford, and to him in Heaven. 

The chair is in the Bodleian library at Oxford. It must 


* Sec Magliana and Eton, Bourn’s Gaz. 


t See January 28, 1596. 

§ See Pythagoras, Index. 


See July 28, 1667. 


•f* 




116 


APRIL. 


excite the indignation of every true-born Englishman to 
learn that the Resolution, the ship in which the immor¬ 
tal Cook sailed round the world, was transformed into a 
smuggling whaler, under the colours of France. The 
Resolution , like the Pelican , should have been preserved 
for a national monument. The fact is asserted by Mr. 
Barrow, in his Voyage to Cochin China. 

4, 1774. Died Oliver Goldsmith, author of “ The Vi¬ 
car of Wakefield,” “ The Citizen of the World,” and two 
comedies; but more eminent, as a poet, by “ The De¬ 
serted Village,” * and “ The Traveller,” poems of extra¬ 
ordinary merit. With great power of wit, and much 
learning. Goldsmith could neither be called wise nor 
happy. Simple, honest, humane, and generous in the 
extreme, he was also irritable, passionate, peevish, and 
sullen; indeed, never was a finer picture at full length 
given to the world, than the sketch by Garrick of this 
incomprehensible and heterogeneous character, in a fable 
called Jupiter and Mercury. See Davies’s Life of Gar¬ 
rick- Goldsmith was born in Ireland, at Pallas, near 
Roscommon, Nov. 29, 1728 : he was privately interred in 
the Temple burying-ground, and a monument erected to 
his memory in the Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey. 

— 1789. Died at Tottenham,f a pleasant and respectable 


* Auburn Hamlet, the scene of this delightful poem, is in the 
county of West Meath, Ireland, about five miles from Athlone. 
Hence Goldsmith is sometimes styled “The Poet of Auburn.” Of 
“ The Deserted Village,” Dr. Aikin says, “ It is one of those 
poems which take possession of the heart and imagination with 
irresistible sway, and cannot satiate by repeated perusal.” Let¬ 
ters on Eng. Poetry. Dr. Johnson said of Goldsmith’s Traveller, 
that there had not been so fine a poem since Pope’s time. 

On Alpine clift or Europe’s travers’d plain, 

Enchanting Goldsmith pens his moral strain : 

Bids every land before our vision glide, 

Condemns its luxury, or scorns its pride : 

At home, alas! on “ Auburn’s village green,” 

Weeping, describes the desolated scene : 

Rest, then, sweet Moralist! thine Auburn may 
“ Deserted” be, but never will thy lay. 

The Bardiad. 

f One of the three alms-houses in this village was erected by a 
Spaniard named Zanches, who was confectioner to Philip II. of 
Spain, with whom he came over to England, and was the first 
that exercised that art in this country.—See Philip II., Index. 



APRIL. 


117 


village in Middlesex, and four miles north of London, 
John Ardesoif, Esq., a young man of large fortune, 
and in the splendour of his horses and carriages rivalled 
by few country gentlemen. His table was that of hospi¬ 
tality, where, it is said, he sacrificed too much to convi¬ 
viality. Mr. A. was fond of cock-fighting; and had a 
favourite cock, upon which he had won many profitable 
matches. The last bet he laid upon this cock he lost; 
which so enraged him, that in a fit of passion he thrust 
the bird into the fire. A delirious fever was the result 
of his rage and inebriety, which in three days put an end 
to his own life.—It is surely high time that cock-fighting, 
and all such savage amusements were exploded from 
a civilized, a Christian, and a Protestant community. 
What can be that principle in human nature which is 
capable of deriving delight from such shocking specta¬ 
cles?*—The riotous joviality generally attendant upon 
cruel amusements, and the ludicrous coolness with which 
their participators describe circumstances which pain all 
decently-educated minds, must tend to destroy all sym¬ 
pathy even with the most shocking cases of wounds and 
slaughter, and are, perhaps, the not very remote cause 
of the brutality and murders which continue to disgrace 
the country. 

4, 1802. Expired, in the 69th year of his age, Lord 
Kenyon, many years Lord Chief Justice of the King’s 
Bench. He was born at Gredington, Flintshire, educated 
at Ruthin, a town nearly midway between Denbigh and 
Langollen, in North Wales, and died at Bath. Lord 
Kenyon was a man of deep legal knowledge, inflexible 
integrity, and sound constitutional sentiment. See Arith . 
Quest. 10th edit. 

-— 182/. Captain Parry, in the Hecla, sailed from the Nore 
to attempt to reach the North Pole, and proceeded as far 
as 81°. 5'. 32".; but not finding any thing like a field of 
ice, he stood back to the southward, and anchored his ship 
in a bay on the N. coast of Spitzbergen in 16°. 45'. E. 
79°. 55 . N. In the Dutch charts it is called Treurenberg 
Bay. This bay he afterwards quitted with part of his 
crew in two boats, and after almost insurmountable diffi¬ 
culties reached the latitude of 82°. 45'. N., in long. 19°. 
25'. E. 

5, 33. The resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The rising again from the state of the dead, is an event, 


* See March 31, 1654, and May 24, 1802. 




118 


APRIL. 


the belief of which constitutes one of the principal articles 
in the Christian creed. Our Lord, after proving his di¬ 
vine mission by the miracles which lie wrought, and by 
the completion of ancient predictions in which he was 
described, declared, that the doctrine of a resurrection 
was one of those important truths which he came to an¬ 
nounce to mankind. And to shew that such an event was 
possible, he restored to life three persons, viz. the daugh¬ 
ter of Jairus, a ruler of the Synagogue;—a young man of 
Nain, who was carried on his bier to be buried ; and his 
own much-beloved friend, Lazarus of Bethany, whose 
body at the time was thought to have become the prey of 
corruption. By thus raising others, and particularly by 
rising himself, from the dead, our Saviour fully demon¬ 
strated that a resurrection from the dead is possible. And 
lie, moreover, declared to his followers that there is to be 
a general resurrection both of the just and the un¬ 
just, instructing his disciples to propagate this doctrine 
through all nations; St. Paul also confessing, that if there 
be no resurrection of the dead, preaching is vain, and our 
faith is vain. This single text places the importance of 
the Resurrection of our Blessed Saviour in the most 
striking point of view. The hope of a future existence 
has always been the buoyant principle of reflecting man ; 
and the distinguishing feature of the Christian reli¬ 
gion is, that it gives a power and weight to this doctrine 
which unassisted nature could not possibly obtain. It 
supersedes speculative reasoning, by building our faith on 
a fact, and by pointing to the Resurrection of its Great 
Founder as the forerunner of our own. And as this is 
certainly the most important fact in the gospel history, 
so, in proportion to its importance, the credibility of it is, 
perhaps, when well considered, the greatest possible, as 
many writers on this interesting subject have fully shewn, 
See particularly Gilbert West’s Treatise on the Resur¬ 
rection, and Dr. Priestley’s Notes on all the Books of 
Scripture . 

Shall man be left abandon’d in the dust, 

When fate, relenting, lets the flow’r revive ? 

Shall Nature’s voice, to mau alone unjust, 

Bid him. though doom’d to perish, hope to live ? 

Is it for this fair virtue oft must strive 
With disappointment, penury and pain ? 

No ; Heav’n’s immortal Spring shall yet revive, 

And man’s majestic beauty bloom again. 


Beattie. 


APRIL. 


119 


5, 1603. James the Sixth of Scotland and First of England, 
set out from Edinburgh to take possession of the English 
crown,* in consequence of the death of Queen Elizabeth. 
See March 24 and July 25, 1603. 

— 1605. Expired, at the age of 80, in London, his native 
city, that diligent collector of domestic antiquities, John 
Stow. He was buried in the church of St. Andrew, 
Undershaft, St. Mary-Axe, near Leadenliall Street. His 
“ Chronicles of England,” and his “ Survey of London,” 
are useful works. It is a little extraordinary that Stow, 
and Speed, another well-known chronologist, historian, 
and antiquary, were originally both Tailors. The latter 
was born at Farrington, Cheshire, 1555, and died in 1629. 

— 1753. Origin of the British Museum. On this 
day the Parliament passed an act to pay 20,000/. to the 
daughters of Sir Hans Sloane: the sum to be raised by a 
lottery. See Jan. 11, 1753; and Museum, Index. 

— 1797. Died the Rev. William Mason, at Aston, about 
eight miles S E. from Sheffield, W. Riding of Yorkshire. 
As a writer, he chiefly distinguished himself by “ Elfrida” 
and “ Caractacus,” tragedies; “ The English Garden,” 
a poem; and “ Memoirs of Gray, the poet,” in 4 vols. 
8vo. See March 27, 1767; and Gray, Index. 

— 1804. Died, aged 80, at Boldre, near Lymington, and 
in the New Forest, Hants, William Gilpin, an English 
divine, a biographer, and an inimitable investigator of 
the charms of English sylvan scenery and of nature’s 
picturesque beauties. His “ Remarks on Forest Scenery” 
should be the companion of all those who love to retire 
from the highly-embellished garden, or the artificial land¬ 
scape, and to contemplate nature in her wilder form as 
seen in the woodland haunt and forest glade. Mr. Gilpin 
was brother to Mr. Sawrey Gilpin, R. A , a celebrated 
painter of wild animals and of horses, who died in 1807. 

Mr. George Stubbs, who also excelled in that de¬ 
partment of the art, died in the same year. His most 
noted picture is Phaeton being carriecl away by the 
horses of the sun. He also painted Eclipse, the race¬ 
horse, and it is deemed the best likeness of that cele¬ 
brated performer. See Butler’s Arith. Quest, art. 
Horse. 

—1811. Sunday-Schools. Died, in his native city, 
Gloucester, Robert Raikes, the inventor, in 1780, of 
the Sunday-School: and he enjoyed the happiness of 


* See Arith. Quest. art.Equest. Expedition. 



120 


APRIL. 


seeing his benevolent purposes advanced to an incalcu¬ 
lable extent, by the facilities subsequently afforded to the 
education of the poor, and which have shed the light of 
useful knowledge on the darkest abodes of ignorance. 
See Introduction, page 4, and Lancasterian Education, 
Index. 

Remembering the important law of Christianity, that no 
man liveth unto himself , Mr. Raikes sought for occasions 
of disinterested and productive exertion; and began his 
philanthropic career by relieving, instructing, and em¬ 
ploying some forlorn, miserable wretches who were 
immured in the County Bridewell, for petty offences. 
Prevention of crimes by instruction or reproof, and com¬ 
passion for even justly-suffering criminals, were united in 
his idea of Christian benevolence, which 

“ To every want, and every woe, 

To guilt itself when in distress, 

The balm of pity will impart; 

And all relief that bounty can bestow.”* 

Mr. Raikes was, at his decease, which occurred without 
any previous indisposition, in his /6th year. Thus lie 
came to his grave in a full age, and might,,surely, have 
solaced “ life’s yellow-leaf” with the promise of his great 
Exemplar— Blessed art thou , for these cannot recompense 
thee; hut thou shult he recompensed at the resurrection of 
the just. In the mean time, the name of Robert Raikes 
will not soon be forgotten among those who have diffused 
light over the dark places of the earth, full of the habita¬ 
tions of cruelty. Nor, comparing what he found with 
what he left, as to provision for the education of the indi¬ 
gent, will it be deemed extravagant if we apply to the In¬ 
ventor of the Sunday-School, the line inscribed, in 
St. Paul’s Cathedral, to the memorv of its great archi- 
tect,f—Si monumentum quaeris, cirumspice*—If you 
would see his monument, look around. A very interesting 
memoir of Mr. Raikes is given in the 6th vol. of the 


* See Index, and Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Howard. 
f See Index, art. Wren. 

+ The epitaph of Masaccio, or Maso, an eminent Italian pain¬ 
ter, in the Carmelite Church at Rome, which he painted in 
fresco, 

Se alcuno cercasse il marmo o il nome mio, 

La Chiesa il marmo, &c., 

urnished the hint of Sir Christopher Wren’s in St. Paul’s. 






APRIL. 


121 


Monthly Repository; and a good likeness of this great 
benefactor of mankind has lately been engraved and pub¬ 
lished from a picture by Romney. 

6, 1199. Richard I. died at Chains, near Limoges, in the 
department of Upper Vienne, France, of a wound which 
he received from an arrow shot by Bertrand de Gourdon, 
whose father and two brothers that monarch had killed. 
See Exercises on the Globes , art. Sagitta; and Richard I., 
Index. 

— 1348. Died calmly, serenely, and undismayed at the 
approach of the king of terrors, the beautiful Laura, il¬ 
lustrious by her own virtues, and immortalized in the 
verses of Petrarch. Modesty was the peculiar character¬ 
istic of this lovely woman; and it appears that she was 
not puffed up either with her beauty, or the fame derived 
from the praises of Petrarch. She was extremely reserved 
towards the men; yet she knew how to unite gaiety and 
politeness with wisdom and the principles of religion. 
When she spoke, her eloquence and modesty enchanted 
every heart. When she was silent, her looks charmed 
and instructed. Her voice was a source of continual en¬ 
chantment, soft, angelic, and divine:* it could appease 
the wrath, dissipate the clouds, and calm the tempests of 
the soul; and her sweetness of temper won upon every 
heart. She was buried, according to common report, in 
the Cordeliers’ Convent at Avignon, (her native place, 
though some say she was born at Vaucluse, eight miles 
from Avignon,) in the south of France, and Francis I. 
wrote an epitaph at her tomb, of which the following is a 
translation: 

You here behold, reduc’d to narrow space, 

Her whose renown defies both time and place. 

In eloquence her lover all surpass’d, 

His works to late posterity will last. 

O gentle shade ! of virtues rare possess’d, 

Silence profound will ever praise thee best: 

Words are but wind, and little sense impart, 

When the grand theme transcends the speaker’s art. 

— 1590. Died, Sir Francis Walsingham, at his house in 
Seething Lane. He was one of the most profound of 
Elizabeth’s statesmen, and her frequent representative at 
foreign courts. See Chiselhurst, Bourn’s Gaz. 

— 1695. Died, at the age of eighty-nine. Dr. Richard 


* See Exercises on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Serpens. 

G 



122 


APRIL. 


Busby, Master of Westminster School, who, by his skill 
and diligence in the disharge of that important and labo¬ 
rious office, for the space of fifty-five years, bred up the 
greatest number of eminent men in church and state that 
ever at one time adorned any age or nation. He was 
extremely severe in his school,* though he applauded and 
rewarded wit in his scholars, even when it reflected on 
himself. He was born at Lutton, near Holbeach, in Lin¬ 
colnshire, and was indebted to the constant habit of tem¬ 
perance for a very long life. A fine monument is erected 
to his memory in Westminster Abbey, with a suitable 
Latin inscription The celebrated Dr. Barrow, one of 
the most illustrious of Busby’s pupils, is interred near his 
preceptor. Thus the master and the disciple, who “ were 
lovely for their pursuit of knowledge in life, are not divi¬ 
ded in death.” 

6, 1752. Mary Blandy was hanged at Oxford for the 
murder of her own father, by giving him white arsenic in 
his gruel and tea.f This foul murder was undertaken 
with the utmost deliberation; carried on with an unvaried 
perseverance of intention ; and at last accomplished by a 
frequent repetition of the baneful dose, administered with 
her own hands : a crime so shocking in its own nature, 
and so aggravated in all its circumstances, as will render 
this wretched woman infamous to the latest posteritv, 
and make our children’s children, should they read the 
horrid tale in her trial, blush to think that such an inhu¬ 
man creature ever had an existence. One Cranstoun, 
a libertine captain in the army, was the execrable monster 
at whose instigation she undertook the unnatural deed ; 
he hoping thereby to obtain her in marriage with a consi¬ 
derable fortune, though he had then a wife and children 
in a distant part of the country. From this unhappy 
lady’s example, youth may see the dreadful consequences 


* At .Middle Raisin, a village in Lincolnshire, is a free gram¬ 
mar school, founded in the reign of Edward VI. The common 
seal yet used by the trustees of this foundation exhibits a man 
exercising the birch upon a sensitive part of a suppliant youth, * 
while other scholars are shewn at their forms. The motto : Qci 
parcit virgam, oDiT filium, 1552—He who spares the rod, 
hates the child. Such appears also to have been Dr. Busby’s 
opinion : it had the countenance likewise of Dr. Johnson : “ A 
boy,” said the Doctor, “ neglects to-day to learn his task—he is 
flogged—and to-morrow he learns it.” 

f See August 15, 1751. 



APRIL. 


123 


of disobedience to a parent. Had she listened to her 
father’s admonitions to dismiss from her acquaintance the 
wicked Cranstoun, this dreadful calamity had never be¬ 
fallen her. Let it morever be remembered, that innume¬ 
rable disasters and indelible disgrace are frequently en¬ 
tailed on young persons through life, by their pertinaci¬ 
ously disregarding, neglecting, and despising the advice 
of their preceptors and guardians, the representatives of 
parents. May these, and similar considerations, fix in 
the minds of our young readers that excellent maxim of 
resolutely resisting the first temptations to sin; for if 
once they yield, though but ever so little, such is the pro¬ 
gressive nature of vice, it will not be in their power after¬ 
wards to prescribe limits to their deviations :* 

-Be obstinately just; 

Indulge no passion, and deceive no trust: 

Let never tnan be bold enough to say, 

“ Thus, and no farther, shall iny passion stray;” 

The first crime past, compels us into more, 

And guilt grows fate , that was but choice before. 

Aaron Hill’s Athelxvold. 

1803. Col. Montgomery was killed by Capt. Mac- 
namara, in a duel at Chalk Farm, in the vicinity of Pan- 
eras and Kentish Town, near London. In the reign of 
Queen Anne a duel still more fatal occurred between the 
Duke of Hamilton and Lord Moliun. Lord Moliun was 
killed on the spot, and the Duke died of his wounds, as 
his servants were carrying him to his coach. One of the 
seconds was also wounded in the affray. In 1613 a des¬ 
perate duel was fought in the vicinity of Bergen-op-Zoom, 
when Lord Edward Bruce was killed by Sir Edward Sack- 
ville. It is greatly to be lamented, that society should be 
deprived of men of courage and ability by this mode of 
vindicating their honour. Guardian, No. 133. 

7, 1498. Charles VIII., king of France, styled the Cour¬ 
teous and Affable, died at Amboise, in the 27th year of 
his age, and 14th of his reign. He was succeeded by his 
cousin Louis XII. See January 1, 1515, and October 9, 
1514. 

— 1710. Died, in his native island, Barbadoes, the most 
easterly of the Carribee Islands, in the West Indies, 
Christopher Codrington, a brave English officer, and 
not less distinguished for his learning and benevolence. 


* See James i. 15, and Arith. Quest., art. Joseph. 

g 2 




124 


APRIL. 


His body was brought to England, and interred June 19, 
1716, at Oxford, in the chapel of All-Souls’College, of 
which he had been a Fellow. To this seminary he left a 
noble legacy, consisting of his books, worth 6000/.; and 
10,000/. sterling to be expended, 6000/. in building a 
library, and 4000/. in furnishing it with books. His plan¬ 
tations in Barbadoes were bequeathed to the Society for 
propagating the Gospel in Foreign parts. See Society, 
Index. 

7, 1779. As Miss Reay, an actress, was coming out of 
Covent Garden Theatre, in order to go home in her car¬ 
riage, a clergyman of the name of Hackman stepped up 
to her, and, without the smallest previous menace, or 
address, instantly shot her dead with a pistol. The 
wretched culprit, who but a few years before had taken 
orders, was, it is said, urged to the commission of this 
horrid crime by jealousy and despair: he suffered death 
on the 19th of the same month. He was born at Gosport 
in 1752, and was for some time an officer in the army. 
Miss Reay was the daughter of a labourer in the parish of 
Elstree, about 11 miles N.N.W. from London, in Flert- 
fordshire. She was buried in the churchyard of that 
parish; as was also Mr. Weare, who was murdered by 
Thurtell in Gill’s Hill Lane, in the parish of Aldenham, 
October 24, 1823. 

— 1807. Died at Paris, aged 75, the celebrated astrono¬ 
mer Lalande, whose works are known in every civilized 
part of the globe. He was born at Bourg, in the depart¬ 
ment of L’Ain, province of Bresse. His most celebrated 
work is his History of Astronomy, which must always be 
regarded as a production of the first importance, and as 
having tended most materially to diffuse a knowledge of 
the subject among his contemporaries. 

8, 1341. Petrarch on this day, being Easter-Sunday, 
was crowned with laurel* at Rome, in the most pompous 


* According to poetic fiction, Daphne, the daughter of the river 
Peneus, was changed into a laurel by the gods, to shelter her 
from the pursuit of Apollo, who ran after her along the banks of 
this river: “ Since you cannot be my wife, then,” said he, “ you 
shall at least be my laureland from this time the laurel tree 
was consecrated to that God, who being himself the god of poetry, 
it afterwards became the custom to crown poets with it. See 
Arith. Quest, art. Laurel. 

The Peueus was a river of Thessaly, rising in Mount Pindus, 
and falling into the Thermean Gulf, after a wandering course, be¬ 
tween Ossa and Olympus, through the beautiful vale of Tempe. 



APRIL. 


125 


and magnificent manner. If glory belongs to the talents 
of the mind, as well as to military prowess, it is but just 
to adorn with laurel the brows of poets as well as the 
brows of heroes. This tree, by its perpetual and beauti¬ 
ful verdure, announces immortality both to the one and 
to the other. Petrarch’s friends shed tears of joy; and 
though he was himself in a sort of intoxication, he felt at 
the bottom of his soul, that such honours were incapable 
of conferring true happiness, and far exceeded his desert. 
“ I blushed,” says he, “ at the applauses of the people, 
and the unmerited commendation with which I was over¬ 
whelmed.” A sentiment becoming a man whose mind 
was deeply imbued with religion; who had, on another 
occasion, said, “ Let us read the historians, the poets, and 
the philosophers; but let us have in our hearts the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ; in which alone is perfect wisdom and 
perfect happiness.” See Bacon, Index; and April 6, 
1348—July 18, 1374. 

8, 1364. John, king of France, died in the Savoy Palace, 
Strand, London, and was succeeded by his son Charles 
V., surnamed the Wise. See Poictiers, Index, and Battle 
of Poictiers, Arith Quest. 

— 1750. Anthony Blackwall, an eminent divine and 
schoolmaster, expired at Market-Bosworth, in Leicester¬ 
shire. He was born in Derbyshire, and is particularly 
celebrated for his work, entitled, “ The sacred Classics 
defended and illustrated; or, an Essay humbly offered 
towards proving the Purity, Propriety, and true Elo¬ 
quence, of the Writers«of the New Testament.” 

9, 1483. Expired at Westminster, Edward IV., in the 
42nd year of his age, and 23rd of his reign. He was a 
bad and vicious prince, destitute of all virtues; but brave, 
capable of activity, and enterprising in great emergencies. 
He was buried at Windsor, and was succeeded by his soil 
Edward V., who was only 12 years of age, and never 
crowned; being soon after, together with his brother, 
privately murdered in the Tower, by order, as is generally 
supposed, of his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, after¬ 
wards Richard III. Edward V. was of the house of York. 
See June 20, 1483. 

— 1492. Lorenzo de’ Medici, expired at Florence, when 
he had lived no more than 43 years. He was remarkable 
for his depth of penetration, versatility of talent, and com¬ 
prehension of mind. He formed various schemes for the 
advancement of learning and the arts, which he prose¬ 
cuted with a degree of energy and success which have 


/ 


126 APRIL. 

deservedly procured him the title of Lorenzo the Mag¬ 
nificent. 

.9, 1626. Died, the famous Lord Bacon, in the 66th year 
of his age, at the Earl of Arundel’s house, at Highgate. 
(See Bourn’s Gazetteer .) He was buried privately in St. 
Michael’s Church, at St. Alban’s, Herts. The spot that 
contains the remains of this great man lay obscure and 
undistinguished, till the gratitude of a private individual, 
formerly his secretary. ,*—“living, his attendant; dead, his 
admirer,”—erected a monument to his name and memory. 
Lord Bacon was a splendid genius and a profound philo¬ 
sopher; perfection is not, however, the lot of human nature; 
he was venal as a judge. Thus Pope has not unaptly cha¬ 
racterized him as 

The wisest, brightest , meanest of mankind. 

See January 22, 1560. 

— 1/47- Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, was decollated on 
Tower Hill, in the 80th year of his age. He had been 
convicted of high treason, having been engaged in the 
Scotch rebellion of 1745. This nobleman, who was of 
a*cliaracter infamously profligate; whose life had been a 
perpetual contradiction to all the decencies, moralities, 
and best principles of action, suffered death with great 
dignity and resolution. So much easier, it has been re¬ 
marked, is it for a man to die well than to live well. See 
August 18, 1746. 

10, 1736. Prince Eugene, whose name had been long 
famous throughout all Europe, died at Vienna, in the 73d 
year of his age. He shared in the glories of the illustri¬ 
ous Marlborough. See Index. 

— 1752. Died, at Bath, William Cheselden, an emi¬ 
nent surgeon and anatomist, born at Somerby, a place 
near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, in 1688. He was 
buried at Chelsea. So early as the age of 22 he read lec¬ 
tures publicly on anatomy; and in 1728 he immoratlized 
himself by giving sight to a lad nearly fourteen years old, 
who had been totally blind from his birth. See February 
16, 1754. 

1 1, Is the festival of Antipas, a faithful witness or martyr, 
mentioned Revelation ii. 13. It is said that he was one 
of our Saviour’s first disciples, and that he suffered mar¬ 
tyrdom at Pergainus, of which place he was bishop. Per- 
gamus was a town of Mysia, in Asia, on the river Caycus. 


* See Arith. Quest., art. Grateful Servant, and Servant. 




APRIL. 127 

See Geo. Exer. on the New. Test., and Arith Quest., art. 
Parchment, and Galen. 

H, 1512. Was fought the famous battle of Ravenna, in 
the north-east part of Italy, when that celebrated hero 
Gaston de Foix was slain in the moment of victory, in 
the 24th year of his age.* * * § Ravenna, though once a con¬ 
siderable city, and often the residence of Roman Empe¬ 
rors, is now, says Dr. Meyers, (Voyage en Italie,) in a 
desolate state. 

— 1689. King William and Queen Mary were crowned 
at Westminster. 

— 1814. Bonaparte abdicated the government of France, 
and Louis XVIII. was soon after recalled to occupy the 
throne of his ancestors.^ 

12, 1 /OO. Died at London, in the 56th year of his age, 
John Seddon, an eminent writing master, who, in 
fancy, invention, and the ornamental parts of penman¬ 
ship, greatly excelled all his contemporaries;+ more espe¬ 
cially in the variety of his flourished figures, for which lie 
had a peculiar genius. Pencilled knots and figures, sprig¬ 
ged letters, and most of the gewgaw decorations so much 
in vogue in Seddon’s time, have long since been consigned 
if to the vault of the Capulets,” as repugnant to the natu¬ 
ral province of the pen, and outraging the just principles 
of penmanship. Hence succeeding masters,§ discarding 
this useless and laborious trifling, have, by a just combi- 


* See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. 

f It is worthy of remark, that none of the Kings of France have 
been succeeded by their own sons for nearly two centuries : the 
present King, Charles X., succeeded his brother Louis XVIII., 
who succeeded his brother Louis XVI., who succeeded his grand¬ 
father Louis XV., who likewise succeeded his grandfather Louis 
XIV., when about five years old; nor has the present king any 
son to succeed him in the event of his death. 

+ The most eminent of whom were, Snell, Ayres, Clarke, 
More, Shelly, Ollyffe, and Snow. See August 10, 1575. 

§ Of which number Mr. Champion deserves particular notice, 
for his numerous, able, and well-known chirographic performances. 
He was a native of Chatham, in Kent, where he was born in 1709; 
received the chief part of his education in Foster-Lane school, 
under Mr.Snell, to whom he served an apprenticeship; and after¬ 
wards became a celebrated private teacher, and master of an 
academy in Bedford Street, Bedford Row, where he resided in 
1761. We have endeavoured to discover the time and place of 
his death, but in vain. 



128 


APRIL. 


nation and tasteful intermixture of the various hands, 
ornamented with graceful and easy flourishes judiciously 
disposed, produced performances in the caligraphic art, 
that are calculated to yield a high gratification to every 
mind endowed with ability to perceive the beauties of 
proportion, form, and disposition, and to estimate the 
value of genuine writing: a species of ingenuity which, 
in the unrivalled hands of a Tomkins, fairly aspired to 
the denomination of a polite art, founded on the nicest 
discrimination of true taste. See Tomkins, Index. 

Mr. Seddon at his decease was master of Sir John John¬ 
son’s free writing-school, in Foster Lane, Cheapside; in 
which he was succeeded by that indefatigable and elegant 
penman, Mr. Charles Snell, one of the first that prac¬ 
tised writing in a free, bold, and neat manner. He died 
in 1733, at his house in Sermon Lane, Doctors’ Com¬ 
mons, as did also the late lamented Mr. Tomkins, who 
long conducted the school in Foster Lane with distin¬ 
guished reputation to himself, and benefit to the rising 
generation. It is a little singular, that the same seminary 
should have had the advantage of such talents as those 
possessed by Seddon, Snell, Champion, and Tomkins. 

12, 1765. Expired, at his living at Welwyn,* in Hertford- 
shire. Dr. Edward Young, a celebrated poet and divine, 
who was born at Upham, near Winchester, in 1681. He 
was the author of many works in prose and verse; but his 
“ Night-Thoughts,” a species of poetry peculiarly his 
own, and in which he has far exceeded all those who have 
attempted to write in this manner, are esteemed his mas¬ 
ter-piece. In this work, says the pious Hervey, energy 
of language, sublimity of sentiment, and the most exqui¬ 
site beauties of poetry, are the least perfections to be ad¬ 
mired. Almost every line glows with devotion. These 
“ Thoughts” give the highest entertainment to the fancy, 
and impart the noblest improvement to the mind: they 
not only refine our taste, but prepare us for death, and 
ripen us for glory. I never take up this admirable piece, 
continues Mr. Hervey, f but I am ready to cry out— 
Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens , i. e. “ Inspire me 
with such a spirit, and life shall be delightful, nor death 
itself unwelcome.” Dr. Young was not the mere specu¬ 
lative Christian and philosopher. He gave in his life-time 


* See Arlth. Quest. 10th edit. art. Embroidery, 
f For Hervey, see Dec. 25, 1758. 



APRIL. 


129 


to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Fo¬ 
reign Parts the noble benefaction of 1000 guineas ! 

12, 1782. Admiral Rodney gained a splendid victory 
over the French fleet commanded by the Count de Grasse, 
between certain islands, situated near Guadaloupe, called 
the Saints, and the Island of Dominique, in the West 
Indies. See Rodney, Index; Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. 
Guadaloupe, and Exer. on Neiv Test. 4th edit. No. 97. 

13, 1748. Died, at his native place, Blandford, Dorsetshire, 
aged 49, the amiable Christopher Pitt, an English 
divine and poet, who translated Vida’s* Art of Poetry, 
wherein he distinguished himself both by its general ele¬ 
gance, and by the skilful adaptation of his numbers to the 
images expressed. But what chiefly raised his name was 
his translation of Virgil’s iEneid ; which, if we compare it 
with that of Dryden, we shall find that Dryden leads the 
reader forward by his general vigour and sprightliness, 
and Pitt often stops him to contemplate the excellence of 
a single couplet; that Pitt pleases the critics, and Dry¬ 
den the people; that Pitt is most quoted, and Dryden 
most read. 

— 1814. Died, in his apartments at Chelsea Hospital, 
Charles Burney, Mus. D. F. R. S., and Member of the 
National Institute at Paris; whose “ History of Music,” 
and other valuable works, are well known. Dr. B. was, 
at his death, in the 88th year of his age, having been born 
at Shrewsbury in 1726.f See May 26, 1784. 


* The “immortal Vida” (styled by Eustace “The Christian 
Virgil”) was thirty years bishop of Alba, iu Piedmont, Italy, and 
one of the most excellent Latin poets that has appeared since the 
Augustan age; having been styled the Virgil of the second Augus¬ 
tan era, in which “ a Raphael painted, and a Vida sang.” He 
was born at Cremona, in 1470, and died in 1566, soon after being 
made bishop of his native place. 

Cremona now shall ever boast thy name, 

As next in place to Mantua,* next in fame ! 

Poi'E. 

f The late Admiral Burney, who died November 17, 1821, 
was son of the subject of this article, and of course brother to 
Madame D’Arblay, the celebrated novellist, and to the late Dr. 
C. Burney, the eminent Grecian. Admiral Burney accompanied 
Captain Cook in his last two voyages round the world, and was 
one of the most scientific and best geographers in our country. A 


* See October 15, 70 B. C. 

G 3 





130 


APRIL. 


14, 1471. Was fought the battle of Barnet, in which Ne- 
vil, Earl of Warwick, commonly styled “ the king¬ 
maker,” was slain, and victory declared for Edward IV. 
An obelisk has been erected at the north end of Barnet 
to commemorate this battle. See Miscel. Quest , 3d edit. 

— 1685. Indigence, with its concomitants, sorrow and 
despondency, brought to his grave, in the 34th year of 
his age, that eminent English dramatic writer, Thomas 
Otway : 

-Kindred spirits, pitying, shall relate 

Poor Otway’s sorrows, and lament his fate ! 

Charlotte Smith. 

It is said, indeed, that in the rage of hunger, going 
eagerly to devour a roll which charity had bestowed, this 
unfortunate poet was choked with the first mouthful, at 
an obscpre house in the Minories, London. 

But what avail’d the poet’s tragic art 
To please the fancy or to mend the heart ? 

If loud applause by men of taste was given, 

They kindly left him to the care of Heaven. 
****** 

Condemn’d to penury, disease, and pain, 

He dragged with weary steps life’s heavy chain. 

And doomed, with aggravated grief, to find 
The great regardless and the rich unkind! 

At length the niggard poor relief supplied ; 

The famished Bard but tasted, groaned, and died. 

Eternal blot on Charles’s vicious reign ! 

When genius languished in distress and pain ; 

While pamper’d sycophants,—a servile band, 

Enjoyed the favours of his lavish hand. 


brighter constellation of genius and learning has seldom irradi¬ 
ated one domestic circle than that which appeared in this family: 
nor was its intellectual brightness more evident than that sun¬ 
shine of the soul which gives the peace of heaven within, and 
diffuses happiness on all around. Dr. Johnson, in a letter written 
by him to Mrs. Thrale, upon Captain Burney’s promotion to the 
command of the Bristol, a 50-guu ship, in 1781, says, <e 1 am 
willing, however, to hear, that there is happiness in the world, 
and delight to think on the pleasure diffused among the Burneys. 
1 question if any ship on the ocean goes out attended with more 
good wishes than that which carries the fate of Burney. I love 
all of that breed whom I can be said to know; and one or two, 
whom I hardly know, I love upon credit, aud love them because 
they love each other.” 




APRIL. 


131 


His comedies are too licentious to be tolerated at the pre¬ 
sent day; but his “ Orphan,” and “ Venice Preserved,” 
tragedies, contain some of the finest specimens of impas¬ 
sioned poetry to be found in our language. Otway was 
born at Trotting, or Trotton, in Sussex.* * * § 

14, 1707. O. S. Was fought the fatal battle of Almanza,F 
between the confederate forces under the Earl of Galway, 
and the French and Spanish, commanded by the Duke 
of Berwick; when most of the English were killed or 
made prisoners of war, having been abandoned by the 
Portuguese at the first charge. See Berwick, Index, and 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1711. Louis the Fourteenth’s son, styled the Grand 
Dauphin, died of the small-pox at Meudon, a few miles 
W. from Paris. See Aug. 17, 1720, note, and Bourn’s 
Gaz. Meudon. 

— 1739. Expired, that great master of harmony, George 
Frederic Handel; and on the 20th he was interred 
in Westminster Abbey, where, by his own order, and at 
his own expense, a monument was erected to his memory. 
He was born February 24, 1684, at Halle, in Upper 
Saxony, Germany, and became one of the most eminent 
masters and composers of music that ever existed: in¬ 
deed, his compositions are admired throughout Europe. 
He resided many years in this country, and met with en¬ 
couragement equal to his vast abilities. See May 26, 1784. 

— 1793. The island of Tobago, in the West-Indies was 
captured by the English.}; 

— 1809. Died in his 78th year, at the episcopal palace at 
Fulham, in Middlesex, Beilby Porteus, Bishop of 
London. He was born at York, commenced his classical 
education at Rippon School, and finished his studies at 
Christ’s College, Cambridge, where, it is said, an unde¬ 
viating assiduity and laborious industry occupied and dis¬ 
tinguished almost every moment of his life. His poem 
on “ Death” gained the Seatonian prize § in 1759. The 


* William Pattison, another poet of genius, born iu Sussex, 
died of want and the small-pox, at 20 years of age, in 1726. His 
imprudence had long rendered his life miserable. 

f Almanza is a small town in the province of Murcia, in about 
39 deg. of north lat. See Wilkinson’s Gen. Atlas. 

X See Sept. 14, 1802, and Arith. Quest, art. Tobacco. 

§ The Rev. Thomas Seaton, a native of Stamford, in Lincoln¬ 
shire, who died about 1750, left by his will an estate to the Uni- 



132 


APRIL. 


following 1 lines seem so appropriate to the subject, and 
so congenial to the feelings of our common nature on the 
approach of that most awful event, that we cannot refrain 
from transcribing them: 

“ At thy good time, 

Let Death approach ; I reck not—let him but come 
In genuine form, not with thy vengeance arm’d, 

Too much for man to bear. O rather lend 
Thy kindly aid to mitigate his stroke, 

And shed thy comforts o’er me ; then put on 
The gentlest of thy looks. But chiefly Thou 
Whom soft-eyed Pity once led down from Heav’n, 

To bleed for man, to teach him how to live, 

And oh ! still harder lesson ! how to die; 

Disdain not thou to smooth the restless bed 
Of sickness and of pain. Forgive the tear 
That feeble Nature drops, calm all her fears, 

Wake all her hopes, and animate her faith.” 

Dr. Porteus was also a strenuous advocate for the abo¬ 
lition of that diabolical commerce, the slave-trade ;* and 
he deserves great and unqualified praise for his encourage¬ 
ment of the education of the Negroes upon Mr. Lancas¬ 
ter’s admirable plan.f His private character was unex¬ 
ceptionable ; affable, amiable, easy of access; primitive in 
respect to manner's, and unspotted in point of morals. 
This venerable and apostolic prelate delivered and after¬ 
wards published a valuable course of Lectures on the 
Gospel of St. Matthew. His remains were interred in a 
vault in the chapel at Sundridge, near Sevenoaks, in 
Kent, built and endowed by himself expressly for this 
purpose. 


versify of Cambridge for ever ; the rents to be disposed of yearly, 
to that master of arts whose poem on a subject given shall be 
best approved by the vice-chancellor, the master of Clare-Hall, 
and the Greek professor, or any two of them. The subject to be 
one or other of the perfections or attributes of the Supreme 
Being; death, judgment, heaven, hell, purity of heart, or what¬ 
ever else may be judged to be most conducive to the honour of 
God and the recommendation of virtue. The poem to be always 
iu English, and to be printed. See Muses Seatoniancc; a com¬ 
plete collection of the Cambridge prize poems. 

* See May 1, 1807. 

t See P a S e Introduction, and Arith, Quest. 10th edition, 
art. Century, and Education, Lancastrian. 



APRIL. 


133 


35, 1776. Fxpired tlie Rev. James Granger, a native of 
Shaftesbury, in Dorsetshire. He was a learned and an 
ingenious divine, and author of a very entertaining and 
highly-valuable work in four volumes, Bvo., under the 
title of ‘‘A Biographical History of England.” Being 
seized with a fit whilst administering the Sacrament on 
Easter-Sunday, he died the next day at his vicarage of 
Shiplake, a few miles from Henley, in Oxfordshire.* * * § 

In human hearts what bolder thoughts can rise 

Than man’s presumption on to-morrow’s dawn ? 

Where is to-morrow? In another world. 

For numbers this is certain ; the reverse 

Is sure to none.f Young. 

16, 1687* Expired, in neglect and obscurity, at an inn at 
Kirby-Moorside, a village a little to the west of Scar¬ 
borough, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, George Vil- 
liers, Duke of Buckingham, the prodigal son of a most 
rapacious father, | who was visited with wealth, beauty, 
parts, dignity, place, and power, only to shew their 
insignificancy, when unaccompanied with wisdom and 
virtue. 

To whom can riches give repute or trust, 

Content or pleasure, but the good or just ? 

Judges and senates have been bought with gold ; 

Esteem and love were never to be sold. Pope. 

He took with him, says Oldmixon, a company of ruf¬ 
fians into Yorkshire, got money from the tenants by force, 
was guilty of a riot at an inn, and died !! Pope’s affecting 
lines on the death of Villiers are quoted in the Arith. 
Quest., where also are mentioned some particulars con¬ 
cerning this celebrated spendthrift. Bee art. Fatal Effects 
of Profligacy, No. 372. 

— 1746. The Duke of Cumberland gained a complete 
victory over the rebels at - Culloden, near Inverness, in 
Scotland; an auspicious event, which terminated the re¬ 
bellion begun in 1745.§ The cruelties practised by the 


* His death was similar to that of the Cardinal de Berulle, 
who died in 1629. See October 2. 

f See Death, Sudden, Index; and Arith. Quest, art. Procras¬ 
tination. 

+ See Aug. 23, and November 19, 1628. 

§ See Arith. Quest, art. Scotch Rebellions, and Miscell. Quest, 
in English Hist. 




134 


APRIL. 


Duke’s army upon the defenceless inhabitants of the ad¬ 
jacent districts, after the battle, are detailed in Smollett’s 
History of England. In consequence of these barbarous, 
because unnecessary, severities, the Duke was many years 
after designated by the title of “the Butcher.” See 
Horace Walpole’s Memoirs of the last Ten Years of the 
Reign of George II. 

16, 1788. Died in France, in the 81st year of his age, the 
far-famed Count de Buffon, a man of uncommon 
genius and surprising eloquence, the most astonishing 
interpreter of nature that perhaps ever existed, and often 
styled the “French Pliny.”* He spent fourteen hours 
every day in study; and when we examine the extent of 
his knowledge and the number of his works, we wonder 
at his having executed so much even in that time. He 
was born at Montbard, in the department of Cote d’Or, 
Province of Burgundy, at which place his remains were 
interred. 

— 1825. Died at the seat of the Countess of Guildford, 
Putney Hill, Surrey, Henry Fuseli, an eminent painter, 
born at Zurich, in Switzerland. He and the famous La- 
vater studied together at Berlin, and on his quitting the 
physiognomist for London, he received from him a slip 
of paper containing this monition, “ Do the third part of 
what you can do.” In presenting this oracular prescript, 
he said, “ There, my dear friend, hang that up in your 
bed-chamber; keep the counsel constantly in mind, and I 
know what will be the result.” The first employment of 
Fuseli in England was that of a teacher and translator of 
languages; he afterwards became one of the most cele¬ 
brated artists of his time, and President and keeper of the 
Royal Academy. In domestic life he was a most affec¬ 
tionate husband, was distinguished by his activity and 
temperance, and was a very early riser, generally rising 
with and sometimes before the sun. His life was extended 
to more than 80 years. 

17, 1668. Expired Sir William Davenant, an eminent 
poet, born at Oxford in 1605. He acquired great repu¬ 
tation by writing poems and plays, and succeeded Ben 
Jonson as poet-laureat,f in 1637- In the time of the 


* He was styled the French Pliny, because, like that ancient 
philosopher, he studied Natural History. 

f The laureat’s province is to write half-yearly laudatory 
verses ; a practice which, it is said, exists in England alone. The 




APRIL. 


135 


commonwealth lie was imprisoned; but at the intercession 
of Milton, his life was saved, and he was set at liberty. 
After the restoration of Charles II. he revived the drama, 
and obtained a patent for a new theatre in Lincoln’s-Inn- 
Fields, where he died. 

17, 1711. Joseph I., Emperor of Germany, died at Vienna, 
aged 33. His reign of only six years was employed in an 
unsuccessful attempt to secure the crown of Spain to his 
brother, in which he was assisted by the English, and the 
battles of Ratnellies, Oudenarde, Almanza, Malplaquet, 
Briheuga, and Villa Viciosa, were fought in his reign.— 
Bourn’s Gazetteer, and Butler’s Min. Quest 3d edit. 

— 1761. Expired, in the 85th year of his age, the cele¬ 
brated Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Winchester, born 
in 167G, at Westerham, * * near Seven-Oaks, in Kent. 
Having preached a sermon, March 31, 1717, on “The 
Nature of the Kingdom of Christ,” in which he asserted 
the true dominion established by our Saviour, he drew on 
himself the indignation of almost all the clergy, and oc¬ 
casioned the famous Bangorian controversy; a contest 
which, as Steele observes, ended in the utter confusion 
of his enemies.f Hoadly’s learning, ingenuity, and con¬ 
troversial talents were admitted by his keenest opponents; 
and his good sense and candour operated more to concili- 


celebrated Gibbon took the liberty of recommending its abolition, 
and, in order to render bis advice more palatable to the court, 
seasoned it with an elegant compliment. From “ Augustus to 
Louis,” says be, “the Muse has too often been false and venal; 
but 1 much doubt whether any age or court cau produce a similar 
establishment of a stipendiary poet, who, in every reign, and at 
all events, is bound to furnish twice a-year a measure of praise 
and verse, such as may be sung in the chapel, and, I believe, in 
the presence of the sovereign. 1 speak the more freely, as the 
best time for abolishing this ridiculous custom is, while the 
prince is a man of virtue, and the poet^ a man of genius.” 

Gibbon’s Decline , &c., chap. lxx. 

* See January 2, 1727. 
f See Steele’s Letters, Vol. I. pp. 173, 180. 


t The poet at that time was Thomas Warton. The present iaureat 
is Dr. SouLhey, a gentleman of acknowledged merit, born at Bristol, 
and now residing amid the beautiful scenery of Keswick, in Cum¬ 
berland. See Feb. 23, 1800. See also, Arith. Quest, art. Laureat, for 
an account of the origin of this office. 






136 


APRIL. 


ate the respect and affections of the community towards 
the religious establishment of the country, than the con¬ 
duct of any of his contemporaries. 

England must long revere a Hoadly’s name ; 

Thy prelate Winchester, hath fix’d his fame. 

Meek, unaspiring, virtuous, and sincere. 

Firm in opinion, in his tenets clear ; 

Fearless, a literary war he wag’d, 

And prejudice and error both engag’d. 

He wrote for Truth , and in her cause prevailed ; 

And, full of days and honour, liv’d to see 

Th’ eulightened realm by what lie taught more free. 

Keate. 

See November 3, 1534. 

1/, 1/90. Died at Philadelphia, aged 84, Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin, the legislator of America, and the prime 
mover of every measure taken in that country, which 
caused the separation from Great Britain; whose disco¬ 
veries in science have associated his name with that of 
Newton; whose political reflections have placed him by 
the side of a Solon and a Lvcurgus; and the unremitting 
labours of whose whole life were directed to public utility. 
He was originally a printer, and a native of Boston, in 
America. The account which he himself has left of his 
life, as Dr. Price well remarks, shews, in a striking man¬ 
ner, how a man, by talents, industry, and integrity, may 
rise from obscurity to the first eminence and consequence 
in the world. See Dec. 16, 1783. 

18, 1689. Died, in the Tower of London, from the united 
effects of terror and intemperance, deservedly execrated 
by mankind, the infamous Judge Jefferies, Baron 
Wem.* He was, says Burnet, scandalously vicious, 
drunk every day, and furiously passionate; and, when Lord 
Chief Justice, he even betrayed the decencies of his post, 
by not affecting to appear impartial, as became a judge,f 
and by running upon all occasions into noisy declamation. 
“The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the 
wicked shall rot.” Prov. x. 7- His cruelties in the West 


* The town thus disgraced by having given a title to such a 
brutal ruffian, is a few miles north of Shrewsbury, in Shropshire; 
and his birth-place was Acton, near Wrexham, in Denbighshire, 
Wales. 

f See Arith. Quest, art. Kenyon. 



APRIL. 


13/ 

of England, after the Monmouth rebellion, are noticed in 
the Arith. Quest ., and in Mis. Quest, in English Hist. * 
18,1794. Died, that eminent lawyer and upright states¬ 
man, Charles Pratt, Earl Camden, who acquired im¬ 
mortal honour as a British magistrate, by granting John 
W ilkes a Habeas Corpus, and afterwards, on his being 
brought before the Court of Common-Pleas, discharging 
him from the Tower, where that celebrated political 
writer had been confined by an illegal general warrant. 
His wise, equitable, and intrepid conduct on this remark¬ 
able occasion, so interesting to every true-born Briton, 
was so acceptable to the nation, that the city of London 
presented him with the freedom of their corporation in a 
gold box, and desired his picture, which was put up in 
Guildhall. 

With hand impartial still prepared to wield 
The sovereign’s sword, or raise the people’s shield, 
Array’d in state, behold a Camden claim 
His country’s reverence and his virtue’s fame; 

His patriot aspect still the culprit awes, 

And speaks the firm assertor of the laws. 

Shee’s Commemoration of Sir J. Reynolds. 

The cities of Dublin, Bath, Exeter, and Norwich, also 
presented him with the freedom of their respective corpo¬ 
rations. 

The son of this distinguished nobleman, the present 
Marquess, to his immortal honour, performed a munifi¬ 
cent act of patriotism a few years ago in relinquishing a 
lucrative sinecure. 

— 1802. Expired, at the Priory, near Derby, Erasmus 
Darwin, M. D. As a physician, he took every oppor¬ 
tunity to impress a dread of spirituous liquors on the 
minds of his patients ; and certainly the most eminent of 
the faculty unanimously concur with him in declaring, 
that the general effect of drinking ardent spirits, is an 
inflamed liver, leprous eruptions on the face, gout, dropsy, 
epilepsy, melancholy, and insanity.f 


* It is remarkable, that the late Countess of Pomfret met with 
very rude insults from the populace on the western road, only 
because she was grand-daughter to the inhuman Jefferies. See 
Bridgewater, and Taunton, in Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

f Dr. Lettsoin published some years ago, on a half sheet of 
paper, a curious Scale of Health , entitled, “ A Moral and Phy¬ 
sical Thermometer: or, a Scale of the Progress of Temperance 
and Intemperance.” The following is a brief abstract of this 



138 


APRIL. 


During liis whole life. Dr. D. was remarkable for 
humanity of disposition, which was particularly conspi¬ 
cuous in the care he took even of the lowest animals. * 
Having arrived at the age which the Psalmist assigns as 
the usual limit of the life of man, his career of usefulness 
and benevolence was finished by a painless exit; for, after 
a few hours’ indisposition, he expired in an elbow-chair, 
without the least perceptible emotion whatever; a circum¬ 
stance the more remarkable, as he had frequently ex¬ 
pressed a strong desire, that the termination of his exist¬ 
ence might be without pain. Dr. Young has emitted a 
similar mind-soothing wish in the following affecting 
lines : 

And since all pain is terrible to man, 

Though transient terrible ; at thy good hour, 

Gently, ah gently, lay me in my bed. 

My clay- cold bed. 

See April 14, 1809. 


singular performance, which was taken, as the Doctor informs 
his readers, from a publication of his friend the late Dr. Rush, in 
America. The original was reprinted in the European Maga¬ 
zine for February and March, 1810. 

TEMPERANCE. 

Water, milk and water, small beer;—Health, wealth, serenity 
of mind, reputation, long life, and happiness. 

Cyder and perry, wine, porter, strong beer;-Cheerfulness, 

strength and nourishment, when taken only at meals, 
and in moderate quantities. 

INTEMPERANCE. 

Punch, toddy, crank, grog, brandy and water, flip, shrub, bitters 
infused in spirits, usquebaugh, gin, brandy, rum, whisky. 

-Vices ; idleness, peevishness, quarrelling, fighting, 

lying, swearing, obscenity, swindling, perjury, burglary, 

murder, suicide.- Diseases; sickness, tremors of the 

hands, bloatedness, inflamed eyes, red nose and face, 
sore and swelled legs, jaundice, pains in the limbs, 
dropsy, epilepsy, melancholy, madness, palsy, apoplexy, 
death.- Punishments; debt, black-eyes, rags, hun¬ 

ger, hospital, poor-house, jail, whipping, the hulks, 
Botany Bay, gallows. 

* An amiable quality which is strongly enforced in his “ Plan 
for Female Education.” See Sect. 17. See also, on this sub¬ 
ject, art. Musca and Lepus, in the Exercises on the Globes, and 
Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Horse. 






APRIL. 


139 


Dr. Darwin was born at Elton, near Newark, in Not¬ 
tinghamshire, in 1731. His chief works are, “ Zoono - 
inia, or the Laws of Organic Life;” “The Botanic Gar¬ 
den;” “The Temple of Nature” (a posthumous publica¬ 
tion); and “A Plan for the Conduct of Female Educa¬ 
tion in Boarding Schools,” a work containing many 
useful hints to those who are entrusted with the care of 
Females. 

19, The sun enters the constellation &, Taurus, the Bull. 
See Exer on the Globes. 

— 1390. Robert II., king of Scotland, the first of the 
Stuarts, died in his castle of Dundonald, south of the 
river Irvine, Airshire, and had reigned nineteen years. 
He carried on war by his generals, and was generally suc¬ 
cessful. He administered justice diligently and impar¬ 
tially, severely restrained robbery, was steady in his con¬ 
duct, and faithful to his word. 

— 1529. Origin of the Term Protestant. On this 
day a few of the electors and princes of Germany, joined 
by the inhabitants of Strasburgh, Nuremberg, Ulm, Con¬ 
stance, Hailbron, and seven other cities, published a Pro - 
testation against a decree of the Diet, (the assembly of the 
States of the German empire,) and petitioned the emperor 
to have it revoked. Hence the name of Protestants was 
at that period given to the reformers of religion in Ger¬ 
many; and it has since become the general denomination 
of sects of every description, who, continuing to profess 
Christianity, abjure the errors of Popery, whose adherents 
are called Romanists, Catholics, Roman Catholics, or 
more properly Papists, because of their subjection to the 
Pope,* whom the greater part of them receive and honour 
as Christ’s vicar, and universal bishop. 

The Protestants in England are divided into confor¬ 
mists and non-conformists ; or, as they are commonly 
denominated. Churchmen and Dissenters. The former 
are those who conform to that mode of worship and form 
of church government which are established and sup¬ 
ported by the state; the latter are those who meet for 
divine worship in places of their own.f The term Dis- 


* In Latin Papa , a name at first given to all bishops, but 
afterwards appropriated to the bishop ot Rome, when he usurped 
the office of universal bishop. See July 8, 1174. 

f The first institution of this kind in England was a pres¬ 
bytery, established Nov. 20, 1572, at Wandsworth, a village 



140 


APRIL. 


senter or Protestant Dissenter comprehends more espe¬ 
cially those of the three following 1 denominations, Presby¬ 
terians , Independents, and Baptists.* * See, on the sub¬ 
ject of Protestant Dissenters, the Rev. Samuel Palmer’s 
admirable little work, entitled, “ The Protestant Dis¬ 
senter’s Catechism.” 

19, 1739. Died Dr. Saunderson, professor of mathe¬ 
matics at Cambridge. He had been blind from two years 
of age, and yet was a very learned man, and the greatest 
mathematician of his time; he formed an orrery himself, 
with which he gave lectures to his pupils. 

— 17/3. Commenced a civil war between Great Britain 
and her American colonies. At Lexington, between 
Boston and Concord,f in North America, the first oppo¬ 
sition was made to the British troops on this memorable 
day. The chief origin of this contest was, the refusal of 
the Anglo-American colonies to be taxed, unless they 
were represented in the British Parliament. See Miscel¬ 
laneous Quest., also Dr. Gordon’s Mist, of the American 
IVar. 

— 1791. Died at Hackney, in the sixty-ninth year of his 
age, the celebrated Dr. Richard Price, a Dissenting 
Minister, universally known for his numerous and valu¬ 
able writings, theological, moral, and scientific. He was 
the friend of man, and though one of the most diffident,]; 


about five miles from London, on the river Wandle, and adjacent 
to the banks of the Thames, in Surrey. 

* Protestant Christianity in general cannot be defended on 
any other principles than those on which Dissenters found their 
separation, viz. The right of private judgment, liberty of con¬ 
science, the acknowledgment of Christ alone as head of his 
church, and the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures as the rule of 
faith and practice. 

f This place, which is situated in a pleasant and healthful spot 
about eighteen miles from Boston, owes its name to the peace¬ 
able manner in which it was obtained from the natives, in 1635, 
by the English settlers. It is famous in the history of the Ame¬ 
rican Revolution, as having been the seat of the Provisional 
Congress in 1774 ; and the general court has frequently held its 
sessions here when contagious diseases have prevailed in Boston. 
See Dr. Morse’s Amer. Gaz. 

J In Mr. Morgan’s concise, but pleasing Memoirs of Dr. R. 
Price, a remarkable instance is recorded of the effect which was 
once produced by his diffidence. Having detected au error of the 
famous M. De Moivre, but doubting his own accuracy, he puzzled 





APRIL. 


141 


he was one of the most intrepid assertors of his rights, 
and one of the most distinguished patriots and benefactors 
of nations. His private character exhibited fervent and 
exalted piety ; his charity was diffusive, for he gave away 
a fifth of his income to the necessitous. In the midst of 
the severest agony of pain he frequently exclaimed, that 
“ the goodness of God was unquestionable.” “ While 
looking forward to death,” said this benevolent and vene¬ 
rable man, a short time before his decease, “ there is 
comfort in being able to reflect —that we have not lived in 
vain, and that all the useful and virtuous shall meet in a 
better world beyond the grave.”* ' \ 

-Oh how great to mingle interest 

With all the sons of reason, scatter’d wide 
Thro’ habitable space, wherever born ! 

To call heav’n’s rich, unfathomable mines 

Our own ! to rise in science as in bliss ! Young. 

19, 1804. Between this day and the 14th of the following 
May, 2,500 of the white inhabitants of St. Domingo were 
indiscriminately butchered by the ensanguined Negroes, 
encouraged by their infuriate commander. General 
Dessalines : and the dreadful work of destruction then 
ceased from necessity, for no more victims remained. 

St. Domingo, the second in size, and, before its trou¬ 
bles, one of the most prolific of the West-India Islands, 
was discovered by Columbus in 1492. He called it His- 


himself so much in the correction of it, that the colour of his 
hair, which was naturally black, became changed in different 
parts of his head into spots of perfect white.—It is related of 
Guarini, who first introduced Greek into Italy, that losing a box 
of manuscripts by shipwreck, it caused him so much grief, that 
his hair became gray in a single night. He died in 1460. (Diet. 
Univ. Historique; Literary Gazette, Jan. 14, 1826.) Ludovico 
Sforza’s is said to have become gray from fear, 'l'he same is 
asserted of Marie Antoinette’s, the wife of Louis XVI., though 
not in quite so short a period. To grief, and not to fear, this 
change in hers was to be attributed. Lord Byron seems to 
have had these instances in his mind when he wrote his Pri¬ 
soner of Chiilon. 

My hair is gray, but not with years ; 

Nor grew it white 
Iu a single night. 

As men’s have grown from sudden fears. 

* See Feb. 22, 1723 ; Feb. 6, 1804 ; and Oct. 14, 1601. 




142 


APRIL. 


paniola, or Little Spain: but a city which he founded 
there in 1494, being dedicated to St. Dominic/ the entire 
island was at length styled St. Domingo. The Spaniards 
are said to have destroyed in battle and in cold blood 
above 3,000,000 of the aborigines (including women and 
children) before they achieved the conquest of the whole 
country. The French, in their late conflicts with the 
blacks, were guilty of the basest treachery, and the most 
atrocious barbarities. The contest terminated, however, 
in the sovereignty of the African race over that extensive 
and fertile island, and they completely established them¬ 
selves as an independent state, in spite of the strenuous 
exertions of that most powerful nation. The new sove- 


* Dominic de Gusman, a Spanish priest, born in 1170, at Ca- 
laroga, in Old Castile, was the founder of the famous monastic 
order (‘ailed Dominicans, whose power, authority, and influence, 
became universal. They had a monastery in Oxford, and another 
with a commodious convent in London, on the banks of the 
Thames, whence the place is still called Black-Friars, from the 
name by which the Dominicans were known in England. They 
were perpetually employed in stigmatizing with the opprobrious 
term heretic numbers of learned and pious men ; in encroaching 
upon the rights and properties of others, to augment their pos¬ 
sessions ; and in laying the most iniquitous snares and stratagems 
for the destruction of their adversaries. They were the principal 
counsellors, by whose instigation and advice Leo X. was deter¬ 
mined on the condemnation of Luther.* The papal see never 
had more active and useful abettors than this order, and that of 
the Jesuits, founded by Ignatius Loyola, who was born in Guipus- 
coa, a province in the north-east part of Spain, in 1491, died at 
Koine in 1556, and was canonized in 1622. The intriguing 
Jesuits were suppressed in 1773 ; but the late Pope, duly appre¬ 
ciating the value of such powerful coadjutors, resuscitated that 
hateful and rapacious monster, ecclesiastical supremacy, and by 
a bull or brief, dated August 7, 1814, completely re-established 
this company of arch impostors. They were, however, banished 
from Spain and Russia in 1820. See May 24, 1814, and July 21, 
1814. 

The kinds of friars are very numerous: Augustine—Domini¬ 
can, or black , or preaching friars—Franciscan, or gray, or beg¬ 
ging friars ; and Carmelites, or white friars.— Rees’s Cyclop. 

Dominic died at Bologua in 1211, or, according to other ac¬ 
counts, in 1221. 


* See an account of the Dominicans in Burnet’s Travels through 
France, &c. p. .11, or Moshkim’s Eccl. Hist. Yol. III. p. 294, 8vo., and 
in Dr. Rees’s New Cyclop, and Ency. Brit - 





APRIL. 


143 


reign of St. Domingo (Dessalines) restored to it the 
ancient name Hayti, and declared himself Emperor, by 
the style of James the First* 

Believers in the moral government of a benign God, 
do not hesitate to consider the late successes of our dark- 
coloured brethren as symptoms which appear to develop 
a providential plan for the relief of that much-injured 
people, and the just punishment of their merciless op¬ 
pressors. It has been calculated, that the voracity of 
European avarice has been glutted with the murder of 
180,000,000 blacks, since the commencement of that 
greatest opprobrium of the commercial Christian world, 
“The Slave Trade!” See Arith. Quest, art. Sugar; 
and Ecver. on the Globes , art. Apis. See also May ], 

1S07- 

19, 1807. Expired John Opie, Professor of Painting to 
the Royal Academy; and, in the eye of an applauding 
public, one of the first painters in the English school. 

To Opie’s pencil liberal Nature gave 

Her fleeting forms with truth severe to save; 

To paint emotion in its liveliest glow ; 

To thrill with horror or to melt with woe. 

These Nature all! Cottle. 

The early productions of this self-taught genius obtain¬ 
ed for him the title of the Painting Chatterton ;f but, 
though he strongly resembled that wonderful poet in 
ardour and perseverance, a just distinction is claimed in 
favour of his moral character; as he had the happiness of 
seeing a mother and a sister as much benefited, as they 
must have been delighted, by his prosperity. Mr. Opie 
was born in May, 1761, near Truro, J in Cornwall, of 
reputable parents; his father and grandfather having been 
master carpenters in that neighbourhood, and his mother 
of a good family. His remains were deposited near those 
of Sir Joshua Reynolds,§ in St. Paul’s Cathedral; where 
he had, at an early age, expressed a wish to be buried. 

The lectures on Painting, which this powerful artist 
delivered at the Royal Academy, have been published by 
his widow, the authoress of several popular and amusing 


* See June 2, 1811. 

t See Chatterton, Index. J See Foote, Index. 

§ See Reynolds and Barry, Index. 




144 


APRIL. 


works, who lias prefixed to the lectures a Memoir of the 
Author’s Talents and Character. 

19, 1824. Lord Byron died at Messolunglii, Misologio, 
or Missolonghi, Turkey in Europe. He was a poet of 
extraordinary fancy, but of licentious manners. His 
remains, with the exception of his heart left in Greece to 
be placed in a mausoleum, were brought to England and 
interred in the family vault at Hucknall, about 8 miles 
W. of Nottingham. He was 36 years of age. 

— 1829. The Earl of Buchan died at Dryburg Abbey, 
on the banks of the Tweed, in his 87th year. He was the 
patron of Burns and other literary characters, and was an 
inflexible patriot. 

20, 1534. Elizabeth Barton, commonly called “The 
Holy Maid of Kent,” a religious impostor, was executed 
at Tyburn, London. 

— 1653. Cromw t ell went to the House of Commons and 
dissolved the Parliament, desiring one of his soldiers to 
take away that fool’s bawble, the mace ! 

The mace is an ensign of authority borne before ma¬ 
gistrates : 

He mightily upheld that royal mace 

Which now thou bearest. Spenser. 

— 1657- The renowned Blake entirely destroyed sixteen 
Spanish ships, (secured with great nautical skill, and well 
protected by a castle and forts on the shore,) in the har¬ 
bour of Santa Cruz,* in Teneriffe, one of the Canary 
Islands, near the north-west coast of Africa. This was 
thought, at the time, to be one of the greatest naval ex¬ 
ploits that had ever been accomplished. It was, indeed, 
so miraculous, says the Earl of Clarendon, that all men 
who knew the place wondered that any sober man, with 
what courage soever endowed, would ever have undertaken 
it; and the victors could hardly persuade themselves to be¬ 
lieve what they had done ; whilst the surviving Spaniards 
comforted themselves with the belief that thev were devils, 
and not men, who had destroyed their ships in such a 
manner. As this was the greatest, so it was the last ac¬ 
tion of this gallant man ; for, being at the time nearly 
consumed by a dropsy and scurvy, he shortly after has¬ 
tened home, that he might yield his last breath in his 
native country;—and as lie came within sight of land, he 
expired !f 

* See July 24, 1797. 

f See August 17, 1697, and September 4, 1657. 



APRIL. 


145 


20, 1689. Londonderry, in the north of Ireland, was 
invested by a considerable army belonging to James II., 
who for some time commanded it in person : but the 
heroic inhabitants and garrison, under the direction of 
Mr. Walker, a clergyman, though reduced to the ex¬ 
tremity of famine, so valiantly defended the place, that 
the siege was abandoned by the enemy, with the loss of 
about 9,000 men. The inhuman cruelties practised by 
the French General, Rosene, upon the defenceless Protes¬ 
tants, near Londonderry, are particularly related by 
Smollett. See June 30, 1689. 

21, 753, B. C. Romulus began to lay the foundation of 
the city of Rome, on the banks of the Tiber, and at the 
distance of about sixteen miles from the sea. The 21st 
of April was therefore called “ Dies Natalis JJrbis Romas ” 
or the Birth-day of the City of Rome. The festivals of 
Pales were annually celebrated on this day, with great 
solemnity, by the ancient Romans : and when Rome be¬ 
came powerful, a from of worship was established to her 
as a Deity, and temples were raised to her honour. The 
goddess Roma was represented, like Minerva, all armed, 
and sitting on a rock, holding a pike in her hand, her 
head being covered with a helmet, and a trophy at her 
feet. (See Eocer. on the Globes , art. Minerva, Lupus, and 
Pales.)—The Pantheon is the most perfect of the temples 
now remaining at Rome; and St. Peter’s Church, accord¬ 
ing to Mr. Duppa, is the grandest display of architectural 
splendour that ornaments the Christian world. See 
Arith. Quest, art. St. Paul’s Church, and Bourn’s Gaz. 
art. Rome. 

— 323, B. C. Alexander the Great, a native of 
Pella,* died in the 33rd year of his age, through intoxi¬ 
cation, at Babylon, on the Euphrates, a river which runs 
into the Persian Gulf, in Asia,f and was interred at 


* Pella was a celebrated town of Macedonia, a country which 
was situated between Thrace, Epirus, and Greece (in the modern 
Turkey in Europe). It became the capital of the country after 
the ruin of Edessa. Philip, kiug of Macedonia, was educated 
there; and in consequence of Alexander haviug been born there, 
he is often styled Pellceus Juvenis, the Pellajan Youth, and some¬ 
times the “ Pellsean Chief.” The tomb of the poet Euripides 
was in the neighbourhood. See Cell auius’s Geo. Ant., Tab. 11. 

Pella is now called Janizza; it would be placed in modern 
maps about 30 miles S. W. of Salonichi, the ancient Thessalo- 
nica. 

f See Cellar ius’s Geo. Ant., Tab. 28. 

ii 



146 


APRIL. 


Alexandria, in Egypt; a city which he had himself built. 
See March 21, 1801, and Arith. Quest, art. Diana’s 
Temple, and Wine, Schiras. 

21, 1142. Expired, near Chalons, in France, Peter Abe¬ 
lard, one of the most learned doctors of the twelfth 
century, born at Palais, a village four leagues from Nantz, 
(in the department of Lower Loire,) 1079, and famous 
for his attachment to Heloise, a canon’s niece at Paris. 
Abelard’s body was sent to Heloise and deposited in the 
Paraclete, at Troyes, and she was also buried in the same 
sepulchre, in 1163. Their remains after the French 
Revolution were removed to the Museum at Paris, and 
afterwards to the cemetery of Pere la Chaise. Bourn’s 
Gazetteer. 

— 1807. Expired, while on a visit in London, the Rev. 
George Walker, F. R. S., many years an eminent Dis¬ 
senting Minister at Nottingham, and a mathematician of 
singular accomplishment. His volumes of printed ser¬ 
mons are pregnant with the celestial fire of genius, and 
with the vigour of noble sentiments. His Appeal to the 
People of England upon the subject of the Test Laws, 
was, in the opinion of Mr. Fox and Mr. Wakefield, the 
best pamphlet published on that occasion. Of a petition 
for recognizing American independence, drawn up bv 
him, Mr. Burke declared that he would rather have been 
the author of that piece, than of all his own compositions. 
But these qualifications, great and estimable as they are, 
constitute but a mean part of his praise. He was an in¬ 
trepid advocate in the cause of truth, liberty, and virtue; 
manifesting on all occasions an undeviating rectitude of 
conduct—a mind infinitely superior to every sensation of 
malice and resentment—a breast overflowing with the 
milk of human kindness—an ardour, an enthusiasm in 
laudable pursuits—and an unwearied assiduity, even to 
his own hindrance, in public services.—Mr. Walker was 
born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the year 1735. 

22, 1509. Expired at his favourite palace at Richmond, 
in Surrey, Henry VII., a native of Pembroke, in South 
Wales. He was magnificently buried in the Chapel 
built by and named after him, in Westminster Abbey. 
His ruling passion was a love of “filthy lucre;” he 
left behind him nearly two millions of money extorted 
from his subjects; but to atone for his avarice he con¬ 
verted the palace of Savoy into a Hospital, and built 
some religious houses. The palace stood near the north 


APRIL. 147 

abutment of Waterloo bridge, Strand, Westminster. See 
Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 

22, 1663, is the date of the charter by which the Royal 
Society of England became a corporation. This So¬ 
ciety is a body of persons of eminent learning; instituted 
by King Charles II. for the promoting of natural know¬ 
ledge. It had its origin in an assembly of ingenious men 
residing in London, who, being inquisitive into natural 
and experimental philosophy, agreed, about the year 
1645, to meet weekly on a certain day, to discourse upon 
such subjects. The members of this Society annex to 
their names the letters F. R. S., which mean. Fellow of 
the Royal Society. 

— 1707. Was born, at Sharpham Park, a small distance 
from Glastonbury, in Somersetshire, Henry Fielding, 
one of the most celebrated English writers, in the line of 
wit and humour, and styled by Sir Walter Scott the father 
of the English Novel. His “ Joseph Andrews,” and 
“ Tom Jones,” are familiar to all who have any relish for 
genuine humour and characteristic incident, and have 
conferred immortality upon their author. His genius ap¬ 
pears to most advantage in those strong, lively, and na¬ 
tural paintings of the characters of mankind, and the 
movements of the human heart, which constitute the 
basis of his novels. “ Tom Jones” is considered as the 
most perfect of his works. His marriage with a lady 
possessed of a fortune of <^1500, and an estate of ^200 
a year at his mother’s death, and his great literary talents, 
might have secured him an honourable support; but by 
indulging a ridiculous passion for appearing a man of 
large fortune, he reduced himself from a handsome com¬ 
petency to the unpleasant situation of having no fortune 
at all, and accepted the Office of an acting magistrate for 
Middlesex. (See Sharpham Park, Bourn’s Gazetteer.') 
Fielding died at Lisbon, whither he had gone for the re¬ 
covery of his health, in 1754. The last gleams of his ge¬ 
nius were displayed in a small piece, entitled “ A Journey 
to Lisbon.” The first sentence in it comes with a touching 
effect on those who are “ saluted by a father's honoured 
name .” He was interred in the burying-ground of the 
English Factory at Lisbon, where a monument was 
erected to his memory by his countrymen in that city, 
on which was inscribed an elegant epitaph, from the pen 
of Le Chev. de Meyrionet, the French Consul, but there 
is no stone now to indicate where his remains lie. 

_ 1715 There was a famous eclipse of the sun, about 

h 2 


J 48 


ArRIL. 


nine o’clock in the morning: the darkness was so great 
for about three minutes and thirteen seconds, that the 
stars appeared and the birds and other animals seemed to 
be in great consternation. A solar eclipse is an occulta* 
tion or hiding of the sun’s body from our sight, occa¬ 
sioned by an interposition of the moon between the earth 
and sun. 

23, St. George’s Day. St. George has been chosen by 
England and Portugal for their patron saint. He is ge¬ 
nerally represented on horseback, encountering with a 
dragon; and is highly venerated in all the countries 
which adhere to the rites of the Greek Church. Great 
difficulties have, however, been raised about this saint 
or hero. Some have called his very existence in ques¬ 
tion ; others suppose him only a symbolical device of 
victory; and, finally, Mr. Gibbon has sunk him into an 
Arian* bishop of Alexandria in Egypt, and the rival of 
Athanasius, in the reigns of Constantius and Julian, and 
says, at the close of the article, “ The infamous George 
of Cappadocia ,f having assumed the mask of a martyr, 
a saint, and a Christian hero, has been transformed into 
the renowned St. George of England, the patron of arms, 
of chivalry, and the garter.”* The occasion and manner 
of his death, both as related by ecclesiastical writers and 
Mr. Gibbon, with other particulars concerning him, may 
be seen in the Ency. Brit. art. George, St. 

— 1215. Louis IX., styled St. Louis, was born at Neu- 
ville, near Beauvais, in the province of the Isle of France. 
He was the son of Louis VIII., was a zealous crusader, a 
lover of justice, and a benevolent prince. See Aug. 25, 
12/0, and Tunis, Bourn’s Gaz. 

— 1616. William Shakspeare, the great poet of na¬ 
ture, and the glory of the British nation, expired on the 


* See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. art. Arian. 

f Thus surnamed, according to our author, from his parents 
or education ; and was born at Epiphania, in Cilicia. Cappado¬ 
cia and Cilicia are districts in Asia. See Geo. Exer. on the New 
Test. 

J The order of the garter, which was instituted April 23,1349, 
by Edward III., is the most noble and ancient of any lay-order in 
the world. The knights companions are generally princes and 
peers ; and the King is the sovereign or chief. The college of 
the order is seated in the castle of Windsor, within the chapel of 
St. George, where the knights are always installed. 



APRIL. H9 

anniversary of his natal day, * at his native town of 
Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire: 

There sweetest Shakspeare, Fancy’s child, 

Warbled his native wood-notes wild. 

Milton. 

As a dramatic writer he was an absolute original, and 
-of such a peculiar cast as hath perpetually raised and 
confounded the emulation of his successors ; a compound 
of such very singular blemishes, as well as beauties, that 
these latter have not more mocked the toil of every as¬ 
piring undertaker to emulate them, than the former; as 
llaws intimately united to diamonds, have baffled every 
attempt of the ablest artists to take them out without 
spoiling the whole. 

Like Homer, Dante, Milton, Spenser, Young, 

The Bard of Avon hath sublimely sung : 

What loftier praise can fondest judge confer ? 

Yet must concede his warmest flatterer. 

That deeper learning had improv’d his taste, 

Too oft by low vulgarities debased. 

Burton's Bardiad. 

Dr. Johnson’s sublime lines on Shakspeare are admi¬ 
rably descriptive of his unrivalled powers, and are said 
to contain the noblest eulogy that ever was bestowed on 
a poet : 

Each change of many-coloured life he drew : 

Exhausted worlds, and then imagin’d new. 

Existence saw him spuru her bounded reign. 

And pantiug Time toil’d after him in vain. 

In the beginning of King James’s reign, he was one 
of the principal managers of the playhouse, till having 
acquired such a fortune as satisfied his moderate wishes 
and views in life, he quitted the stage and all other busi¬ 
ness, and passed the remainder of his time in an honour¬ 
able ease. He was born in 1564, and was the eldest son 
of a. considerable wool-dealer at Stratford. 

The ground on which Shakspeare’s dwelling-house 
stood is now a garden ; and every Englishman will con¬ 
cur with Mr. Malone, in wishing that it may enjoy per¬ 
petual verdure and fertility ! 

In this retreat our Sijakspeare’s god like mind, 

With matchless skill survey’d all human kind. 


* See February 22, 1806. 




150 


APRIL. 


Here may each sweet that blest Arabia knows, 

Flowers of all hues, and without thoru the rose, 

To latest time their balmy odours fling. 

And Nature here display eternal spring ! 

Malone. 

23, 1616. Died Michael Cervantes, a very celebrated 
Spanish writer of plays, novels, and poems; born at 
Alcala de Henares, in 1547. His name is immortalized 
by that admirable satire against knight-errantry and ro¬ 
mances, “ Don Quixote.” With all his merit, however, 
and the celebrity of his name, Cervantes with some diffi¬ 
culty kept himself from starving. See Oct. 7» 157L 

— 1702. It being St. George’s-Day, Queen Anne was 
crowned at Westminster. She was of the Stuart race, 
and daughter of James II. and of his consort, Anne Hyde, 
eldest daughter of the celebrated Earl Clarendon. See 
Misceil. Quest, in Eng'. Hist, and Dinton in Gazetteer. 

— 1740. Died, at Bath, Thomas Tickell, an ingenious 
poet; one of the writers in the “ Spectatorand the 
beloved friend of Addison, whose death he lamented in 
an elegant elegy. This poem is remarkable for the just¬ 
ness of its sentiments, and the serious dignity of its poe¬ 
try. The picture of the funeral in Westminster Abbey, 
can never be read without exciting deep sympathy. 
Tickell was born at Bridekirk, near Carlisle, in Cumber¬ 
land, in 1686. His grandson, Richard Tickell, who 
threw himself in a fit of despondency from the window of 
his bed-chamber in Hampton-Court Palace, and was killed 
upon the spot, Nov. 4, 1793, was the author of some ad¬ 
mired poems and ingenious political pamphlets, among 
which may be mentioned as pre-eminent. Anticipation 
and the Wreath of Fashion. 

24, 1558. Mary, Queen of Scots, was married to the 
Dauphin, afterwards Francis II. of France. 

— 1799. Died William Seward, a gentleman of for¬ 
tune, learning, and leisure, who had a peculiar taste for 
making “ Biographical Sketches of Eminent Characters 
in different Ages and Countries.” His “ Anecdotes of 
Distinguished Persons,” 5 vols. 8vo., and his “ Biogra- 
phiana,” 2 vols. 8vo., were very popular. He was born 
in London, 1747- 

— 1814. Louis XVIII., king of France, sailed from 
Dover on his way to Paris, after being exiled from his 
native country 22 years. He landed at Calais after a 
passage of less than two hours and a half. See April 
11, and September 16; also Calais, Gazetteer. 



APRIL. 


151 


-5, 68. As Saint Mark, says Calmet, was celebrating 
the holy communion on this day, at Alexandria, in Egypt, 
the Pagans, exasperated at his success as a minister of 
the gospel, putting a rope about his neck, drew him 
along from place to place, the whole day; in the evening 
conveyed him to prison; and on the morrow dragged 
him again through the streets in the same manner, till he 
expired. Some maintain, however, that he ended his life 
by fire: Calmet supposes that they might burn his body 
after he was dead; but Jerome asserts, that he expired in 
the eighth year of Nero, and was interred at Alexandria. 
From which we learn, says Dr. Harwood,* that he did 
not suffer martyrdom. 

St. Mark the Evangelist, according to the greater 
number of both ancients and moderns, was the disciple 
and interpreter of St. Peter; and several among the 
former believed that St. Peter speaks of him in his First 
Epistle, v. 13, calling him his son in the spirit; probably 
because he had converted him. It is thought that he 
was of the number of the seventy disciples ;f and some 
add, that he was one of those who forsook our Saviour 
(John vi. 66): but after St. Peter had recovered him to 
the faith, he continued steadfast in it, and went to Rome 
with him ; where about the year 63 or 64, he wrote his 
Gospel, at the request and for the benefit of the Christian 
church in that city, which was at that time the metro¬ 
polis of all civilized nations. He resided at Rome in the 
time of Paul’s imprisonment; that apostle reckons him 
among his fellow-labourers, and intended to send him to 
Colosse; and it is affirmed, that he was present at the 
death of St. Peter and St. Paul.}; 

Some, among whom is the celebrated Dr. Lardner, 
have not distinguished him from John Mark, mentioned 
Acts xii. 12, 25, xv. 39, and by St. Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 11, 
contending, that there is but one Mark in the New Tes¬ 
tament; but this notion is now, according to Calmet, 
almost entirely relinquished. The evangelist Mark was 
the son of Mary, a pious woman of Jerusalem, at whose 
house the disciples used to meet. See John Mark, 
Index. 


* See his learned atid elegant Introduction to the Study of the 
New Testament; also January 14, 1794. 

f Dr. Harwood says, that the assertion of Epiphauius to this 
purport cannot be relied on. 

} See June 29, 66. 




152 


APRIL. 


25, 1284. The unfortunate Edward II., son of Edward 1. 
and Eleanor, sister of Alphonso XI., king’ of Castile, was 
born at Caernarvon. See Butler’s Mis. Quest, and 
Arith. Tables; also Sept. 21, 1327. 

— 1595. Expired at Rome, the illustrious poet Tor¬ 
quato Tasso, and his mortal remains repose in the 
church of St. Onofrio. He was born at Sorrento, in the 
kingdom of Naples, in 1544. (See March 11th.) His 
works shew him to have been a philosopher, an orator, 
a logician, a critic, and a poet, excellent in every kind of 
composition. His “ Gierusalemme Liberata,” an epic 
poem,* has been styled by Balzac, a French writer, the 
richest and most finished work since the age of Augustus. 
Several translations of this work have appeared, but a 
recent one by Mr. Wiflfen combines both the spirit and 
elegance of the original. 

— 1599. Was born, at Huntingdon, upon the Ouse, the 
celebrated Oliver Cromwell. See Cromwell, Index. 

— 1800. Expired, at East-Dereham, a few miles from 
Norwich, in Norfolk, William Cowper, the much- 
admired bard, whose chaste and holy song will continue 
to delight, to charm, and to improve mankind, so long as 
virtue, humanity, and patriotism, shall be esteemed on 
earth, and taste cultivated among men. Keen and saga¬ 
cious reflections on life and manners ; domestic pictures 
of the tender kind, and a warm admiration of the beau¬ 
ties of nature, distinguish his poetry ; these are moreover 
dignified by the purest and most exalted sentiments of 

piety.f 

Hear Cowper raise his bold and moral song. 

Arm’d with sweet tenderness, in virtue strong : 

Truth, while he sings, lets fall her honest tears, 

And mad Oppression startles while he hears ! 

Dr. Linn’s Powers of Genius. 

A considerable portion of the life of this mild, amia¬ 
ble, and benevolent man was passed, however, under the 
pressure of extreme despair ; his “ morbid melancholy” 
having induced him to cherish the dreadful idea, that lie 
was forsaken by his Creator; though he had lived in the 
continued practice of all the virtues: so “ dark and in¬ 
tricate were the ways of Heaven” towards this excellent 
Christian! To him seems applicable what our Saviour 


* See Arith. Quest. 10th edit, 
t Aik in’s Letters on English Poetry. 




APRIL 15.1 

said to Peter: “ What I do, thou knowest not now, but 
hereafter thou slialt know it.”—When the records of 
eternity shall be exposed to our view, the most perplexed 
scenes which have been acted upon the stage of time 
will be satisfactorily reconciled. It will then be clearly 
discerned, that “ All things worked together for good to 
them that loved God,” — that the most puzzling provi¬ 
dences, in which the truly virtuous were concerned, were, 
as the difficult passage through the wilderness was to Is¬ 
rael, “ the right way to a city of habitation.” 

He led their march far wand’ring round ; 

’Twas the right way to Canaan’s ground. 

Watts. 

Ye vainly wise ! ye blind presumptuous ! now, 
Confounded in the dust, adore that power 
And wisdom oft arraign’d; see now the cause 
Why unassuming worth in secret liv’d, 

And died neglected : why the good man's share 
In life was gall and bitterness of soul; 

Why the lone widow and her orphan pin’d 
In starving solitude : while luxury, 

In palaces, lay straining her low thought, 

To form unreal wants.- 

Ye good distrest! 

Ye noble few! who here unbending stand 
Beneath life’s pressure, yet bear up awhile, 

And what your bounded view, which only saw 
A little part, deem’d evil, is no more : 

The storms of wintry time will quickly pass, 

And one unbounded Spring encircle all. 

Thomson. 

Cowper was born in 1731, at Berkliampstead, Herts; 
resided many years near Olney,* north of Newport Fag- 
nell, on the Ouse, Bucks, (from whose contiguous scenery 
many descriptions in his elegant poem of the “Task” 
were taken,) and was buried at East-Dereham. Besides 
iiis poems, now in every body’s hands, Mr. C. published 
a translation of Homer in blank verse, which is highly 
esteemed for its fidelity. 

26, 1521. Ferdinand Magellan, a celebrated Portuguese 
navigator, in the service of the Emperor Charles V., was 
killed in battle with the natives of the island of Matan, 
one of the Philippines. 


* Hence he is often styled “The Bard of Olney.” 

h 3 





154 


APRIL. 


Here brave Magellan led bis hardy band, 

And perish’d, fighting, by a savage hand ; 

The first who sailed round each discover’d shore, 

And seal’d a truth but darkly guess’d before. 

Hervey’s Australia. 

His ship, which was the first that circumnavigated the 
globe, arrived at Seville, in Spain, Sept. 7, 1622. Ma¬ 
gellan discovered and passed the Straits at the extremity 
of South America, which still bear his name; and he is 
deservedly styled the first circumnavigator. See Bur¬ 
ney’s Discovery in S. Sea, and Miscell. Quest, in Eng. 
Hist. 

26, 1/16. Died, that upright patriot. Lord Somers, Chan¬ 
cellor of England. He was ever unwearied in the appli¬ 
cation of his abilities for the service of his country. As a 
writer, he greatly assisted the cause of Liberty in the days 
of its utmost peril, the period of the Glorious Revolu¬ 
tion., He was one of the counsel for the Seven Bishops, 
(see June 17, 1688,) and sustained the character of a 
judge, a senator, and a statesman, with the highest repu¬ 
tation. He was born in the ancient and pleasant city of 
Worcester, in the year 1650, and was interred in the church 
of North Mims, Herts, where a handsome monument is 
erected to his memory. Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

27, 1742. Died, in poverty, at Twickenham, of a broken 
heart, occasioned by the neglect of those whom he had 
essentially served by his pen, Nicholas Amhurst, a 
writer by profession. His principal literary undertaking 
was a daily publication called the “Craftsman,” which 
was carried on for a number of years with great spirit 
and success in controlling the power of administration, 
then conducted by the renowned Sir Robert Walpole. 
Amhurst was a native of Marden, in Kent, was educated 
at Merchant-Taylor’s School, London, and St.John’s Col¬ 
lege, Oxford, and was buried at the charge of his printer, 
Richard Francklin. 

— 1785 Maximilian Julius Leopold, duke of Bruns¬ 
wick, having gone upon the waters at Frankfort upon the 
Oder, to relieve the inhabitants of a village which was 
overflowed, the boat overset, and he was unfortunately 
drowned; thus dying, as he is said to have lived, in the 
highest exertions of humanity, aged 63. 

— 1794 Died, at the premature age of 48, Sir William 
Jones, one of the English judges in the Supreme Court 
of Judicature at Calcutta, in Bengal; a man not less 
distinguished by his zeal for science in general, than by 


APRIL. 


155 


his own great pTe-eminencc in many important branches 
of it. In Oriental learning he perhaps exceeded every 
scholar in this or any other age. Unlike many other emi¬ 
nent literary characters, Sir William was a sincere and 
devout Christian, and at all times, lent the Scriptures his 
utmost support. His opinion of the Bible was written 
on the last leaf of one belonging to him in these strong 
terms: “ I have regularly and attentively read these Holy 
Scriptures ; and am of opinion, that this volume, inde¬ 
pendently of its divine origin, contains more sublimity 
and beauty, more pure morality, more important history, 
and finer strains of poetry and eloquence, than can be 
collected from all other books, in whatever age or lan¬ 
guage they may have been composed.” The following 
epitaph, written by and for himself, is equally admirable 
for its truth and its eloquence : 

Here was deposited 
the mortal part of a man 
who feared God, but not death ; 
and maintained independence, 
but sought not riches ; 
who thought none below him 
but the base and unjust; 
none above him but the wise and virtuous ; 
who loved his parents, kindred, friends, and country; 
and having devoted his life to their service, 
and the improvement of his mind, 
resigned it calmly, 
giving glory to his Creator, 
wishing peace on earth 
and good-will to all his creatures, 
on the day of 

in the year of our Blessed Redeemer. 

l> 7, 1/94. Expired, James Bruce, a celebrated traveller 
into Abyssinia, in Africa; who, after having encountered 
innumerable perils in distant regions, in search of the 
source of the river Nile,* met an untimely death by a fall 


* This discovery was iti vain attempted by the Persians, Greeks, 
and Romans ; and how honourable they esteemed the enterprise 
may be known from the speech put into Caesar's mouth by the 
poe< Lucan : 

Long has my curious soul, from early youth, 

Toil’d in the noble search of sacred truth: 




156 


APRIL. 


down a staircaise at his seat at Kinnaird, near Falkirk, in 
Stirlingshire, Scotland. He is often styled the “ Abyssi¬ 
nian Traveller.” 

28, -Began at Rome, the Floralia, or feasts in ho¬ 

nour of Flora, the goddess of flowers and gardens. They 
continued some days, and were instituted to beg a blessing 
on the grass, trees, and flowers. 

The goddess Flora deck’d with flow’rs appears. 

Of all the Roman festivals this was the most licentious. 
It was once checked by the presence of Cato, who went 
out of the theatre on account of some of its improprieties; 
and such was the power of self-conviction, that the com¬ 
pany applauded him for his virtue. 

— 1738. Shakspkare’s tragedy of Julius Csesar was ex¬ 
hibited at the Theatre Royal, in Drury Lane, for the lau¬ 
dable purpose of raising money to erect a monument in 
Westminster Abbey to the memory of that immortal bard. 
It was placed in that interesting spot called the “ Poets’ 
Corner;” and never could place be named with more 
propriety; for here are to be found the names of Chaucer, 
Spenser, Shakspeare, Jonson, Milton, Drvden, Butler, 
Thomson, Gay, Goldsmith, Prior, Rowe, Gray, &c., &c. 
Here also are the tombs of Handel and Garrick. Some of 
the more remarkable monuments in other parts of this 
solemn depository of the illustrious dead, are those for 
Dr. Watts, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Dr. Mead, Sir Isaac 
Newton, the Earl of Chatham, the Duke of Marlborough, 
Sir Cloudesley Shovel, General Wolfe, Lady Nightingale, 
Lord Mansfield, Duke of Argyle, &e., &c. Here, like¬ 
wise, many of our monarchs have been buried ; hence it 
has been termed “The Royal Mausoleum of Great Bri¬ 
tain.” (See Bourn’s Gazetteer, art. Westminster.) These 
multifarious interments occasioned Dr. Young aptly to 
remark, that Westminster Abbey is an 


Yet still no views have urg’d my ardour more. 

Than Nile’s remotest fountain to explore. 

Howe’s PharsaUa. 

Jt is now ascertained, that the hitherto mysterious Nile rises 
in the Mountains of the Moon, in about ten degrees of north la¬ 
titude. Some information concerning this river may be found in 
the Arith. Quest., and Bourn’s Gazetteer, art. Geesh, Goiular, 
and Nile. See also Exer. on the Globes, art. Antinous, and June 
15, and August 1, in this work. 



APRIL. 


] r ** 

Jo/ 

-ancient, sacred, and illustrious dome, 

Where soon or late fair Albion’s heroes come,* 

From camps and courts, tho’ great, or wise, or just. 

To feed the worm, and moulder into dust; 

That solemn mansion of the royal dead, 

Where passing slaves o’er sleeping monarchs tread, 

Now populous o’erfiows. 

The Last Day , Book ii. 

It has been often noticed, that the magnificence of its 
building, the solemn beauty of its architecture, and the 
profusion of its monumental sculptures, are admirably 
calculated to inspire the contemplative visitor of the Ab¬ 
bey with devout thoughts. The pious Addison has the 
following impressive observation on this subject: “ When 
I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy 
dies within me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, 
every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the 
grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with 
compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents them¬ 
selves, 1 consider the vanity of grieving for those whom 
we must quickly follow; when I see kings lying by those 
who deposed them; when I consider rival wits placed side 
by side; or the holy men that divided the world with their 
contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonish¬ 
ment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of 
mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of 
some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years 
ago, I consider that Great Day f when we shall all of us 
be contemporaries, and make our appearance together 
Spectator, No. 26, 

28, 17/2. The Counts Struensee and Brandt, the for¬ 
mer the minister, and the latter the favourite of the King 
of Denmark, were beheaded at Copenhagen, having their 
right hands previously cut oflf. Struensee was accused of 


* The immortal Nelson’s exclamation, on commencing the 
battle of the Nile, was, “Victory or Westminster Abbey!”— 
Thus Horace: 

-ho roe 

Momento cita mors venit, aut victoria laeta. 

-in a moment's flight 

Death, or a joyful conquest, ends the fight. 

Fiuncis. 

t Great Dav, for which all other days were made. 

Young. 






APRIL. 


158 

having 1 had an intrigue with the queen, who was, in con¬ 
sequence, confined in the castle of Cronenburgh, near 
Elsineur, and afterwards conducted to Zell, in Germany. 
See May 10, 1775. 

28, 1789. Captain Bligh and nineteen of his men were 
compelled, by the mutinous crew of the Bounty, to go 
into an open boat near Annamooka, one of the Friendly 
Islands. They reached the Island of Timor, south of the 
Moluccas, in June, after a perilous voyage of 1200 leagues. 
See Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

29, The Greeks place the festival of Onesiphorus, who 
is mentioned honourably by St. Paul.* * * § He came to 
Rome, A. D. 65, while this apostle was in prison in that 
city,f and at a time when almost every one had forsaken 
him. He arrived there from Asia, where he had already 
been serviceable to the church. Having found St. Paul 
in bonds, after long seeking him, he assisted him to the 
utmost of his power; on which account the apostle wishes 
all sorts of benedictions on himself and his family. Some 
say that he was bishop of Colophon; others, of Csesarea, 
without distinguishing which Csesarea. He is placed 
among the seventy disciples; and the Roman martyrology 
asserts that he suffered martyrdom. 

— 1779. Expired, in his fifty-fifth year, at Pershore, in 
Worcestershire, the Rev. John Ash, LL. D., an eminent 
Dissenting Minister; author of a popular “English Gram¬ 
mar ;” “The Complete English Dictionary;” “Senti¬ 
ments on Education;” and other useful publications. Dr. 
Ash’s Dictionary is valuable because it has most of the 
scientific terms with their derivation, and also both the 
past and present participles of verbs.—Pershore, the place 
of Dr. A.’s death, is about nine miles north-east of Tewkes¬ 
bury, in Gloucestershire, and the same distance south-east 
of Worcester. It is upon the Avon. 

30, 66. Died at Rome, in the 27th year of his age, by phle¬ 
botomy, at the instance of Nero, + Lucan, the Latin poet, 
a native of Cordova,§ in the south of Spain. His chief 
work is his “ Pharsalia,” in which he gives an account of 


* 2 Tim. i. 16. f 2 Tim. i. 16, 18. 

X Among the number of persons wantonly sacrificed by this 
“ Imperial Monster,” were his own mother, wife, preceptor, 

(Seneca,) and the apostle Paul.—See June 29, 66. 

§ Cordova, or Corduba, gave birth also to Seneca, Maimonides, 
and Avenoes. 






APRIL. 


159 


the civil wars between Pompey and Caesar.* This poem 
was translated into English by Mr. May, (who wrote a 
continuation of it to the death of Julius Caesar, both in 
Latin and English,) and more recently by Mr. Rowe, who 
did not live to witness its publication. See Pharsalia, 
note, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

30, 1524. The Chevalier Bayard was buried near Gre¬ 
noble. He was a distinguished French warrior, and 
Francis the First chose to be knighted by his sword. 
Bayard was mortally wounded in the retreat from Rebec. 
Ordering his squire to place him against a tree with his 
face to the enemy, on the Constable of Bourbon, then 
fighting against his country, coming up and expressing 
his regret at seeing him in this situation, the dying Che¬ 
valier exclaimed, “ It is not I who am to be pitied, but 
you, who arc bearing arms against your king, your coun¬ 
try, and your oath.” He was about fifty years of age. 
See Butler’s Arith. Quest. No 502, note; also Bourn’s 
Gaz. Bresse, Grenoble, Mezieres, and Rebec. 
f- 1598, The edict of Nantes was approved, signed, and 
/ sealed by Henry IV. of France. It ordained an oblivion 
and amnesty of all that was past; the re-establishment 
of the Protestant religion and worship in all those places 
where it had been interrupted, and the restoration of its 
churches, houses, and revenues; the quiet and undisturbed 
residence of the Hugunots, or Reformed, in all parts of 
the kingdom not specially prohibited. See Oct. 24, 1685, 
and Bourn’s Gazetteer, art. Nantes. 

— 1/45. Battle of Fontenoy, near Tournay, in the 
Netherlands, between the French, under Count Saxe, and 
the English, Dutch, and Austrians, commanded by the 
Duke of Cumberland. The battle was fought with great 
obstinacy, and the carnage on both sides was very consi¬ 
derable. The allies lost about 12,000 men : the victory 
cost the French almost an equal number of lives; and no 
honour was lost by the vanquished.f 

— 1/89. The renowned Washington was inaugurated 
President of the United States, in the city of New York, 
amid the acclamations of thousands of spectators. This 
consummate patriot, general, and statesman, after having 
by his sword obtained the independence of that vast con¬ 
tinent, and by his wisdom established her security, trade, 
and happiness, with a greatness of mind, without example 

* See Arith. Quest. Battle of Pharsalia. 
f See April 16, 1746, and Oct. 31, 1765. 





160 


APRIL. 


in modern times, voluntarily descended from the pinnacle 
of power to enjoy the otium cum dignitnte * in the bosom 
of his family, amid the peaceful and pleasing occupations 
of agriculture. He was born in Virginia, Feb. 11, 1732; 
and died Dec. 14, 1790, without a sigh or groan, at Mount 
Vernon, his family seat, a few miles from Washington, 
the metropolis of the United States. See Marshall’s 
Life of Washington; also Arith. Quest., 10th edit. art. 
Washington and Agriculture. 

The city of Washington obtained its name in honour 
of the saviour of America. It stands in the territory of 
Columbia, and is situated at the junction of the rivers 
Potomac and the Eastern Branch; a spot scarcely to be 
exceeded in point of salubrity and beauty by any in the 
world. The plan of the city combines every thing grand 
and beautiful. 

30, 1795. Died in Paris, at the age of 80, Barthelemy, 
the Nestor,f of French literature, and author of that justly 
celebrated work, “The Travels of Anacharsis in Greece.” 
His mind seems to have been an immense treasure of 
everything that could purify the morals, perfect the taste, 
render man more dear to man, and contribute to the 
splendour of his country. See Cassis, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 
The death of Barthelemy affords a remarkable proof of 
the spontaneous force of uninterrupted habits of study. 
He had been slightly looking over the newspaper, when 
suddenly he called for a Horace, opened the volume, 
found the passage which he wished to consult, and on 
which he paused for a moment; and then, too feeble to 
speak, made a sign to bring him Dacier’s; but his hands 
were already cold, the Horace fell—and the classical and 


* Leisure and respect. He enjoys his otium cum dignitate — 
He is withdrawn from business, and is honoured in his retreat. 

f Nestor was King of Pylos (now Navarino), a town on the 
sea-shore in Messenia, the western part of Peloponnesus, now 
the JMorea, in Turkey in Europe. 

Nestor, whom Pylos’ sandy realms obey’d. 

Pope’s Homer. 

Homer displays his character as the most perfect of all the 
Grecian heroes engaged in the siege of Troy; being distinguished 
for eloquence, address, wisdom, justice, and an uncommon pru ¬ 
dence of mind. He lived to a great age, from which circum¬ 
stance it was usual among the Greeks and the Latins, when they 
wished a long and a happy life to their friends, to wish them to 
see the years of Nestor. He is often styled the “ Pylian Sage.” 



APRIL. 


161 


dying mail of letters sunk into a fainting fit, from which 
he never recovered. See D’Israeli on Lit. Character; 
and July 18, 1374. 

By one of his biographers it is said that he was reading 
the 4th Epistle of the 1st Book of Horace, in which is the 
following verse : 

By hope inspir’d, depress’d with fear, 

By passion warm’d, perplex’d with care. 

Believe, that every morning’s ray 
Hath lighted up thy latest day ; 

Then, if to-morrow’s sun be thine, 

With double lustre shall it shine. 

30, 1827- The foundation stone of the London University, 
in Gower Street, was laid by his Royal Highness the 
Duke of Sussex. The mallet used on this occasion was 
the same which was employed in laying the first stone of 
St. Paul’s Cathedral, and presented by its great architect. 
Sir Christopher Wren, to the Masonic Lodge of Anti¬ 
quity, of which he was a member. 


( 162 ) 


MAY. 


All things are now renew’d ; a youthful dress 
Adorns the flow’rs, and beautifies the trees ; 

New swelling buds appear upon the vine, 

And apple blossoms round the orchards shine; 

Birds fill the air with the harmonious lay, 

Aud lambkins in the meadows frisk and play. 

Massey’s Ovid's Fasti. 
******* 

’Tis Nature’s revel; all her works rejoice ! 

Gay laughs the landscape, all that lives is gay ; 

Light bound the flocks ! the birds exalt their voice; 

And all things shout, and bless delightful May ! 

Fawcett. 

“ Rosy-footed May,” the fifth month of the year, the 
confine of Spring and Summer, received its name, say some, 
from Romulus, who gave it this appellation in respect to 
the senators and nobles of his city, who were denominated 
moj ores. 

Thus from the word Majores, we believe, 

This month the name of May did first receive. 

Others supposed it was so called from Maia, the mother 
of Mercury, to whom they offered sacrifices on the first day 
of it. In this month the plants of the earth in general begin 
to flower. 

Day’s harbinger,* 

Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her 
The flow’ry May ; who from her green lap throws 
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose. 

Milton. 

The orchards also in the cider counties now display their 
highest beauty in the delicate bloom of the apple-blossoms ; 
exhibiting, as Thomson justly remarks. 

One boundless blush, one white-empurpled shower 
Of mingled blossoms. 

An unrivalled view of this kind is afforded from the sum¬ 
mit of Malvern-Hills, which are alike celebrated for the vir- 


* See Exer. oti the Globes, art. Aurora. 



MAY. 


163 


tues of tlie waters,* the salubrity of the air, the enchanting 
scenery, and the extensive and variegated prospects which 
they command.f They are situated in the several counties 
of Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford, and from their 
summit may be seen the three cathedrals of those districts. 
Their highest point is about 1313 feet above the surface of 
the river Severn at Hanley. 

Exuberant Hereford ! whose favour'd plains 
Boast their four harvests in the circling year. J 

Dr. Booker’s Malvern. 


* The copious and charming spring called Malvern-Wells is 
in the vicinity of the two villages. Great and Little Malvern, 
about six miles from the city of Worcester. It rises on the 
eastern side of the hill; and Dr. Wall, an eminent physician of 
Worcester, assures us, by many quotations from classical as welt 
as medical authors, that it furnishes water of the purest and 
most medicinal qualities. It is one of the most health-restoring 
draughts offered by the hand of Hygeia to invalids. 

f These beautiful and admired hills have been celebrated in 
two elegant and nervous poems : one of them written by Dr. 
Booker, the other by Mr. Cottle; the former is entitled Malvern , 
the latter Malvern-Hills .—Justly has it been observed, that no 
ideas are more grateful and soothing to the mind, than those 
which are suggested by a retrospect on youthful scenes, and a 
recollection of those enjoyments which are never to return. On 
the mention of lVIalvern-Hills (a few miles from Worcester), a 
pleasing remembrance of former times presents itself; for there 

“ With frequent foot, 

Pleas’d have I, in my cheerful morn of life, 

When nurs’d by careless solitude I liv’d,— 

Pleas’d have I wander’d thro’ their rough domain." 

The general partiality for our native soil will, I trust afford a 
sufficient apology for the introduction of the preceding, as well 
as the subsequent beautiful and pathetic lines on this interesting 
subject: 

Ah happy hills ! ah pleasing shade ! 

Ah fields belov’d in vain ! 

Where once my careless childhood stray’d, 

A stranger yet to pain ! 

J The hay, the corn, the hop, and the fruit harvests : the lat¬ 
ter for cider and perry. The natives also extol the wool, the 
wheat, the wood, and the water of this county, which is more¬ 
over famed for picturesque beauty : and Philips’s didactic poem 
entitled, “ Cider,” (which is generally allowed to be the best imi¬ 
tation of Virgil’s Georgies in any language, and of Milton’s style 
in our own,) has long rendered this fertile district classic ground. 
See Arith. Quest ., 10th edit, art Cider, Pomona, and Wool. 



164 


MAY. 


it is beyond the power of an antiquary, says Nash, in 
his “ Worcestershire,” to describe the beautiful prospects 
from this hill. If a distant view delights, here you may 
see the counties of Monmouth, Hereford, Radnor, Breck¬ 
nock, Salop, Worcester, Gloucester, Stafford, Warwick, 
&c.; the three cathedrals of Worcester, Gloucester, and 
Hereford, together with many market towns. If you are 
pleased with a nearer view, the pear-trees of Worcester¬ 
shire, when in blossom, fprnish such a scene as the world 
besides cannot equal; on the western side, the apple-trees 
of Herefordshire, with their purple hue, make an agreeable 
variety; add to this the varied ground, the beautiful little 
hills, and the rich woods which improve the Herefordshire 
prospect. If to the beauty of the situation we add the salu¬ 
brity and pureness of the air, we may venture to assert, 
that, at least for summer months, Malvern is as desirable 
a residence as any in England. 

May, “ the goddess of the Spring,” must be drawn, says 
Peacham, “ with a sweet and amiable countenance, clad in 
a robe of white and green, embroidered with daffodils, haw¬ 
thorns, and blue-bottles.” 

Hail! beauteous May, that dost inspire 
Mirth and youth, and warm desire ; 

Woods and groves are of thy dressing, 

Hill aud dale do boast thy blessing. Milton. 

REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, May-day. The ancient Romans used to go in proces¬ 
sion to the grotto of Egeria * on May-day. May-day 
has also been iminemorially observed in England as a 
rural festival; and high poles, denominated May-poles, 
are in many places profusely decorated with garlands 
composed in honour of the day. Round these the pea¬ 
santry dance: 

Amid the area wide she took her stand, 

Where the tall may-pole once o'erlook’d the strand. 

Pope. 

* Egeria was a nymph who resided near Rome, in a grove 
where Diana was particularly worshipped, and was frequently 
visited by Numa, the second King of Rome. To facilitate the 
introduction of his new laws and regulations into the state, he 
solemnly declared before the Roman people that they were previ¬ 
ously sanctified and approved by the nymph Egeria, whom some 
maintain to be the same as Diana.—See Eater. on the Globes , art. 
Diana. 



MAY. 


165 


Gathering flowers on a May morning is called “Maying.” 

When merry May first early calls the morn. 

With merry maids a maying they do go. 

Sidney. 

Zephyr with Aurora playing, 

As he met her once a maying. Milton. 

The celebration of May-day was, moreover, among the 
number of triumphal shows exhibited by our ancestors in 
London and its environs. It was not only a civic, but a 
royal amusement; as the kings, queens, and their cour¬ 
tiers, as well as the citizens, went a maying. 

The late benevolent Mrs. Montague gave, for many 
years, on May-day, an entertainment at her house in 
Portman Square, to that unfortunate class of miserable 
objects, the chimney-sweepers of the metropolis. They 
were heartily regaled with the good old English fare of 
roast-beef and plum-pudding : a dance succeeded; and 
upon their departure, each joyous guest received the 
donation of a shilling from the liberal mistress of the 
feast, who, on all occasions, (to use an expression of her 
favourite poet,*) 

■-had a tear for pity, and a hand 

Open as day for melting charity. 

Shakspeare. 

It has been pretty generally reported, however incre¬ 
dible, that the annual entertainment just described, was 
originally instituted to commemorate the circumstance of 
Mrs. Montague’s having once found a boy of her own, or 
that of a relation, among the sooty tribe. In allusion to 
this incident, perhaps, a story resembling the adventures 
of this lost child, but said to be an imperfect copy of the 
fact, is pathetically related by the ingenious Montgo¬ 
mery, in “ The Chimney-Sweeper’s Boy.” This affect¬ 
ing poem supposes young Edwin to be stolen when about 
three years old, by a gipsy, who sold him to a chimney¬ 
sweeper for five guineas While sweeping the chimneys 
of Alcander’s house, his voice discovered him to his 
mother. 

Now from the chimney-top did Edwin peep, 

And, ’midst the howling tempest, shouted “ Sweep 1” 

As the pale moon burst through a parting cloud, 

Awhile the wind was hush’d, again he shouted loud: 


* See Aug. 25, 1800. 






166 


MAY. 


A fearful tremor shook Nerina’s frame, 

And all the powers of reasoning overcame ; 

She seiz’d Alcander’s arm, and with a grasp 
Strong and convulsive, seem’d for breath to grasp: 

“ Hark! hark! she cried—the wind appear’d to sleep. 
Again poor Edwin shouted, “ Sweep ! sweep! sweep!” 

“ My child ! my child !” she cried with transports wild! 

“ O heav’n ! it is, it is my child, my child !” 

It will afford pleasure to such of our humane readers 
as are unacquainted with the fact, to he informed, that 
there is a society now established in London in favour 
of this unhappy tribe; to better their present situation, 
and ultimately to supersede the necessity of employing 
them at all. Their number has been already lessened, 
and machines have been invented which bid fair, with 
such improvements as time and experience may point out, 
to become a good and sufficient substitute for climbing 
boys. 

1, St. Philip and St. James the Less. Philip the apos¬ 
tle, a native of Bethsaida in Galilee,* * * § was called to the 
apostleship at the beginning of our Saviour’s mission.f 
Shortly after, finding Nathanael, Philip said to him, “We 
have found the Messiah Then he brought Nathanael to 
Jesus; and they were with him at the marriage of Cana 
in Galilee. When our Saviour intended to feed 5000 
men, he asked Philip (only to prove him) whence bread 
might be bought for such a multitude; the apostle an¬ 
swered, that 200 pennyworth would not be sufficient for 
every one to take a little.^ Some Gentiles § having a 
curiosity to see Jesus Christ a little before his passion, 
they addressed themselves to Philip, who mentioned it to 


* See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 

f John i. 43, &c.; Luke vi. 14 ; Matt. x. 3. 

X John vi. 5—7. 

§ The term Gentile, or Heathen, denotes one unacquainted 
with the true God, and the right way of worshipping. In the 
writings of Paul, the Gentiles are usuallv termed Greeks : Rom. 
i. 14, 16, ii. 9, 10, iii. 9, 29 ; 1 Cor.'i. 23, 24; Gal. iu. 28. 
Luke, in the Acts, expresses himself in the same manner: Acts 
vi. 1, xi. 20, xviii. 4, &c. Paul is commonly called the “ Apos¬ 
tle of the Gentiles,” because he principally preached Jesus Christ 
to them ; whereas Peter, and the other apostles, preached gene¬ 
rally to the Jews, and are called the “ Apostles of the Circum- 
cisiou.” Gal. ii. 8. 



MAY. 


167 


Andrew, and these two together to Christ.* At the last 
supper, Philip asked our Saviour, if he would please to 
shew them the Father, and that was all they desired. But 
Jesus replied, that seeing the Son, they saw the Father 
also.f This is all that we find of him in the Gospels. 

Eusebius says, that St. Philip was a married man, and 
had several daughters, and that he was buried at Hiera- 
polis,J in Phrygia, in which district he had preached. 

St. James Minor, or the Less, surnamed the bro¬ 
ther of our Lord, (Gal. i. 19,) was the son of Cleopas, 
otherwise called Alpheus, and Mary, sister to the blessed 
Virgin; consequently cousin-german to Jesus Christ. He 
was surnamed the Just, for the admirable holiness and 
purity of his life. Our Saviour appeared to James Minor 
eight days after the resurrection, 1 Cor. xv. 7, and com¬ 
municated the gift of knowledge to him. He was consti¬ 
tuted bishop of Jerusalem, where he was considered as a 
pillar of the church, when St. Paul first came thither after 
liis conversion. Gal i. 18, A. D. 51, (see Acts xv. 13, &c.,) 
and soon after suffered martyrdom in a tumult at the tem¬ 
ple. The Epistle of St. James was written a little before 
his death. 

1, 304. Diocletian, § a celebrated Roman emperor, pub¬ 
licly abdicated the crown at Nicomedia, || after a reign of 
twenty-two years in the greatest prosperity, and retired to 
a private station at Salona, his native place,®f[ where he is 
said to have found more felicity from cultivating his little 
garden, than he had formerly enjoyed in a palace, in the 
plenitude of power. 


* John xii. 20—22. t Johu xiv. 8—10. 

X See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 

§ See Dioclea, Salona, and Spalatro, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

|| Nicomedia was the capital of Bithynia, (a country of Asia 
Minor, south of the Euxine or Black Sea,j and, for its beauty 
and magnitude, has been compared to Rome, Antioch, and Alex¬ 
andria. It was the residence of the emperor Constantine, and 
most of his imperial successors, and was delightfully situated 
adjacent to the eastern part of the Propontis (now the Sea of 
Marmora). See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 

^ Salona was a town of Dalmatia, about ten miles from the 
Adriatic Sea, or Gulf of Venice, in 44 deg. of north lat. 







168 


MAY. 


If any ask me what would satisfy 
To make life easy, I would thus reply: 

As much as keeps out hunger, thirst, and cold, 

Or what contented Socrates* of old, 

As much as made wise EpicuRUsf blest, 

Who in small gardens spacious realms possess’d. J 


* Socrates was unjustly put to death by poison at Athens, his 
native place, about 400 years B. C., in the seventieth year of his 
age. See Arith. Quest. 10th ed. art. Socrates. 

f Epicurus was born of obscure parents, at Gargettium, or 
Gargettus, in Attica, a country of Achaia, great part of which 
was in the north part of the Peloponnesus, now the Morea. Its 
most famous city was Athens. This eminent philosopher gene¬ 
rally addressed his hearers (who, in consequence of the amenity 
of his manners and his social virtues, were very numerous) in 
those well-known gardens called after his own name; hence he 
is often styled “The Garden Philosopher;” he is also called 
“ The Gargettian,” from the place of his birth. He taught his 
followers, that the happiness of mankind consisted in pleasure; 
uot such as arises from sensual gratification, or from vice, but 
from the enjoyments of the mind, and the sweets of virtue. His 
death happened in the seventy-second year of his age, 270 vears 
B. C. 

It has been well remarked, that the same love of elegance which 
made the philosophers of Greece attend to their style, made them 
attend even to the places where their philosophy was taught. 
Plato delivered his lectures in a place shaded with groves, on the 
banks of the river Ilissus, at a fine villa or pleasure-house about 
a mile from Athens ; and which, at it once belonged to a person 
called Academus, was called, after his name, Academy; hence 
every place sacred to learning has ever since beeu called Academia, 
or Academy. Aristotle chose another spot of a similar charac¬ 
ter at Athens, adjacent to the same river, where there were trees 
and shades, a spot denominated the Lyceum ; and as he usually 
walked while he instructed his pupils, they were called Peripate¬ 
tics. The Lyceum took its name front its having been originally 
a temple of Apollo Lyceus ; or rather, a portico or gallery, built 
by Lyceus, son of Apollo. 

It was in solitudes and sylvan shades 
The ancient sages taught and tenanted. 

It tvas in Academus’ green retreats 
That Socrates his sapient precepts gave, 

That Plato’s eloquence enchain’d the throng, 

And by Ilissus’ far-famed laureat stream, 

+ See Arith, Quest. 10th edit. art. Gardening. 



MAY. 


169 


This is what nature’s wants may well suffice ;* 

He that would more, is covetous, not wise. 

Dry den’s Juvenal. 

Diocletian lived nine years after his abdication, and 
died in the 68th year of his age; having been the first 
sovereign who voluntarily resigned his power; a philoso¬ 
phical resolution, which, in later years, has been imitated 
by several other potentates.f Diocletian has been much 
praised for his military virtues, which raised him from a 
common soldier to the throne; but his cruelty to the 
Christians, in what is called their 10th persecution, has 
been deservedly branded with the appellation of un¬ 
bounded tyranny and insolent wantonness. 

1, 1308. Albert of Austria, the second emperor of this 
house, was assassinated near Bruck, in the Canton of 
Bern, Switzerland. See the particulars in the Eeeer. on 
the Globes , lltli edit. 

— 1/00. Died, John Dryden, a man scarcely second to 
any among the English poets, born at Aldwincle, north¬ 
east of Northampton. He was educated at Westminster 
School, under Dr. Busby, and was sent thence to Trinity 
College, Cambridge. He translated the works of Virgil, 
Juvenal, and Persius, besides writing a great number of 
poems, chiefly satirical, and twenty-seven plays. Dryden 
was undoubtedly a man of great genius; but being forced 
to write for bread, he could not take time enough to 
make his performances always correct. His Ode for St. 
Cecilia’s Day, is, however, justly esteemed one of the 
most perfect pieces in any language, and is usually placed 
at the head of that class of poetry called lyric- The cha¬ 


in murmurs soft adown the thymy vale. 

Echo’d the magic of the muse’s strain. 

Mr. W. Fox’s Bagatella. 

Aristotle, the pupil of Plato, and the preceptor of Alexander 
the Great, was born at Stagyra: hence he is often styled the 
“ Stagyrite,” and the “ Philosopher of Stagyra.” This town 
was situated on the borders of Macedonia, near the bay into which 
the river Strymon discharged itself into the gulf, (now called 
Contessa,) south of Amphipolis, and east of Thessalonica (now 
Salonichi). Aristotle, according to most accounts, died at Athens, 
322 years B. C., aged 63. 

* See Angelo, Index. 

f See January 4, 1724; January 16, 1556; and June 4, 1802. 

1 



170 MAY. 

racteristics of Dryden are richness and freedom, energ 
and animation.* 

Pope, the most melodious of writers, has, with his usual 
precision and elegance, described in the following lines 
the harmony that is to be found in Dryden’s beautiful 
verse: 

Waller was smooth ; but Dryden taught to join 
The varying verse, the full resounding line, 

The long majestic march, and energy divine. 

1, 1707. On this day commenced the Union of England 
and Scotland. See Arith. Quest, and Jan 1, 1801; also 
Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 

— 1807. That horrid engine of iniquity, the Slave-Trade, 
which had so long been an opprobrium to our national 
character, was proscribed with merited ignominy by the 
British Parliament during the Foxite administration — 
one of the greatest works of charity ever performed by a 
Christian nation; the best boast of our country and of 
the times we live in, and which cannot be contemplated 
by the friends of humanity without the liveliest emotions 
of exultation and gratitude. The abolition of this igno¬ 
minious commerce was, indeed, a most splendid victory, 
not of force over force, but of philanthropy, conscience, 
reason, and religion, over bigotry, folly, avarice, barbarity, 
and impiety.—Of late, however, it is grievous to say, this 
system of atrocity, extinct as it was supposed to be, has 
exhibited some symptoms of reviviscence. At the same 
time it is gratifying to think, that much of what was done 
has been effectually done ; and, under the favour of Pro¬ 
vidence, the ground which yet remains may, by dint of 
exertion, in the African Institution, J and other zealous 
Abolitionists, soon be regained. With this most laudable 



* See Cecilia, Index. 

t Mr. Fox not only advocated the cause of African emancipa¬ 
tion through the whole of his patriotic life, but it was “ the hal¬ 
lowed wish of his dying hour;” and the achievement of this noble 
object is of itself sufficient to disarm all criticism on that admi¬ 
nistration, and to cover it with immortal glory. 

X A brief account of this patriotic Institution, (which, by en¬ 
deavouring to repair the ruin that we have greatly contributed to 
bring upon Africa, will in some measure exonerate Britain from 
an enormous load of guilt and disgrace,) may be seen in the Ever, 
m the Globes, 11th edit. 



MAY. 


171 


view, Mr. Brougham, a counsellor, whose commanding 
eloquence and pre-eminent ability will one day place him 
at the head of his profession, brought a bill into the House 
of Commons in 1811, to make the trading in slaves Felony, 
and, of course, to subject the unprincipled miscreants 
who dare to traffic in human blood, to the pains and 
penalties of felony. (See Arith. Quest, art. Sugar; Exer. 
on the Globes , art. Apis; Oct. 18, 1564, and April 19, 
1804.) A transaction so glorious in itself, so characteristic 
of the exaltation of moral feeling, and so pregnant with 
blessings to the whole African race, as the Abolition of the 
Slave-Trade, merits a magnificent record. Accordingly, 
Mr. Bowyer has published an elegant work, entitled 
“ Poems on the Abolition of the Slave-Tradewritten, 
by James Montgomery, James Graliame, and E. Benger. 
The volume forms a fine specimen of typography, and, 
besides other engravings, contains three portraits engraved 
from busts of the late Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, 
and William Wilberforce, accompanied by short notices 
of these eminent philanthropists, whose Christian virtues 
shed lustre on an age of vice and selfishness. 

2, 1519. Leonardo Da Vinci, an illustrious Italian painter, 
died in the arms of Francis I., at the palace of Fontain- 
bleau, which was built by that monarch. It is situated in 
the province of the Isle of France, department of Seine 
and Marne. See Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

Leonardo was surnamed Da Vinci from a castle of 
that name near Florence, in Tuscany, where he was born, 
in 1452. He was not only a consummate painter, but a 
sculptor, an architect, and a musician. He displayed the 
greatest invention and industry in his art: and his thoughts 
were perpetually employed in searching out every prin¬ 
ciple that could enable him to reach excellence. The 
master-piece of his pencil is “ The Last Supper ” which 
is in the church of the Dominicans at Milan, in Italy, 
and which will to the end of time display the elevated 
genius of the painter. A print from this sublime picture 
has been engraved by the celebrated Rafaelle Morghen. 

— 1568. Mary Queen of Scots, who after the murder 
of her husband, and her marriage with Bothwell, had 
been confined by the confederate Lords, escaped from 
her imprisonment in a castle in Lochleven, a beautiful 
lake in Kinross-shire, about twelve miles in circumference. 
Her escape was effected by the assistance of George 
Douglas, a youth of eighteen, brother to the governor of 
the castle, who, interested by her beauty, her misfortunes, 

i 2 


172 


MAY. 


and her courteous and insinuating address, had strongly 
engaged in her cause. See Levenloch, Gaz. 

2, 1729. Was born at Stettin, a to win of Pomerania, on 
the river Oder, in the north of Germany, the empress 
Catharine II., who, even while arbitrary sovereign of 
the vast Russian empire, still retained sentiments of affec¬ 
tion for the place of her nativity, and remitted presents 
to her former instructors, particularly to her French mis¬ 
tress and writing-master. See Tooke’s Life of Catha¬ 
rine II. Vol. I. p. 125, edit. 2d, and Nov. 17, 1796. 

— 1816. The late lamented Princess Charlotte was 
married to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. See Jan. 7, 
1796, and Nov. 6, 1817. 

3, 1481. Mahomet II., emperor of the Turks, died at or 
near Nicomedia, (now Ismicli or Isnickinid,) in Natolia, 
Asia. Like most of the sovereigns of the East, he was 
cruel and vindictive. He is most memorable for being 
the conqueror of Constantinople. See May 29. 

— 1495. Columbus discovered the valuable island of 
Jamaica, in the West Indies. 

— 1655. Jamaica was taken from the Spaniards by the 
English, who have remained in possession of it ever since; 
an acquisition which they owe to the enterprising spirit 
of Cromwell. It constitutes the most valuable of the 
English West-Indian possessions, and is the third in size 
of the West-Indian islands. Penn and Venables were 
the officers to whom it surrendered. See Miscell. Quest, 
in Eng\ Hist, and Bourn’s Gaz. 

— 1747. Admiral Anson captured a French fleet oft' 
Cape Finisterre, in Spain ; a gallant action, for which he 
was soon after ennobled. See Arith. Quest, and June 
6 , 1762 . 

3, 1751. W as held an Anniversary of the Sons of the 
Clergy, at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The ancient manner 
of ehaunting the Litany, usually called Tallis's Litany, 
being the composition of Dr. Tallis, music-master to 
Henry VIII., was revived by order of the Dean of St. Paul’s. 

— 1758. A wager was won by a young lady at New¬ 
market, who had undertaken to ride a thousand miles in 
a thousand hours. She performed it in little more than 
two-thirds of the time. See Arith. Quest. 

4, 1471. The celebrated battle of Tewkesbury,, in 
Gloucestershire, where Edward IV. gained a decisive victory 
over the Lancastrians. Queen Margaret, the consort 
of Henry VI., and her son, were taken prisoners. The 
queen was conveyed to the Tower of London, where 


MAY. 


173 


King Henry (then in confinement) expired a few days 
after this fatal engagement; being, as is generally sup¬ 
posed, murdered by the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards 
Richard III. The Queen was ransomed, in 1475, by the 
French King, Lewis XI., for 50,000 crowns. 

4, 1677- Expired, that great divine and eminent mathe¬ 
matician, Dr. Isaac Barrow, born in London, 1630. 
Dr. Barrow was appointed Master of Trinity College, 
Cambridge, on which occasion the King said “ that he 
had given it to the most learned man in the kingdom.” 
The sermons of this able theologist evince deep and ori¬ 
ginal thought. The four on the disputed doctrine of Pre¬ 
destination have completely exhausted the subject. A 
discourse, however, of more practical and useful ten¬ 
dency is his sermon on Contentment, in which he 
forcibly states the many reasons which man has not only 
to bear with patience “ the ills that flesh is heir to,” but 
to be thankful for an existence in which happiness greatly 
preponderates over misery. 

*— 1736. Died, by a voluntary submersion in the Thames, 
under London Bridge, Eustace Budgell, a native of 
Exeter, where he was born about the year 1685. He 
was educated at Oxford, and was concerned with Steele 
and Addison in writing the Tatler, Spectator, and Guar¬ 
dian. In the Spectator, his papers are marked with an 
X., and in the Guardian, with an asterisk. He also wrote 
many papers in the Craftsman. See April 27, 1742. 

— 1758. Died, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, 
George Bickham, the most eminent and indefatigable 
writing-engraver of his time, to whose ingenious labours 
and spirited efforts in the advancement of English pen¬ 
manship, the public are much indebted. His most ela¬ 
borate and comprehensive work was, “The Universal 
Penman,” containing more than two hundred folio pages 
written by the ablest writing-masters of that period, and 
engraved and published by himself. He likewise engraved 
a folio sheet of six eminent writing-masters. He was 
buried, without any monumental inscription, near the 
vestry-door in St. Luke’s churchyard. Old Street. See 
Ashby, Index. 

— 1/99. Seringapatam, the capital of the Mysore Coun¬ 
try, in the peninsula of Hindostan, Asia, was taken by 
storm by the British army under General Harris. The 
body of Tippo Sultaun was found under heaps of slain 
at one of its gates. Three millions of treasure, 2,200 


MAY. 


174 

pieces of cannon, and immense booty, were found in the 
city. See Miscell. Quest, in English Hist. 

The fate of ail uncommonly brave man, though of in¬ 
ferior rank, deserves to be mentioned on this occasion. 
Serjeant Graham, of the Bombay European regiment, 
the leader of the forlorn hope , a self-devoted band, who 
began the attack in the dreadful storming of Seringapatam, 
had, by clambering upon the rampart over the bodies of 
liis fallen comrades, planted the British ensign upon its 
walls, and called out “ Huzza!” when a shot mortally 
struck him to the heart; and this intrepid fellow, after 
having been but one short moment, to his own feelings, 
a geater man than his general, and an object of envy for 
an Alexander, dropped lifeless into the ditch of the fort! 
See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. General Harris died at his 
seat, Belmont, Kent, in 1829, aged 82. 

4, 1804. Bonaparte was waited upon by the conserva¬ 
tive senate, expressing their desire that he would govern 
the French Republic as Emperor. This request was 
made by Cambac6r&s, who had been one of the most 
strenuous advocates for the death of Louis XVI., in the 
name of the whole body. Garat, who on the 20th of 
January, 1793, informed the unfortunate king of the 
Convention’s determination that he should be executed 
on the following day, was among the venal group that 
offered the crown to Bonaparte. On the 18th, Bonaparte 
was declared Emperor at St. Cloud, under the title of 
Napoleon the First, but his coronation was not performed 
till the 2nd of December, when he was anointed by Pope 
Pius VII., who placed the crown upon his head in the 
church of Notre Dame at Paris. No emperor ever re¬ 
ceived the diadem from such vile freemen; and, placed 
by such hands, it would have stained even the forehead of 
a Titus or a Trajan. 

— 1819. Captain Parry sailed from Deptford on his 
expedition to discover a North -West Passage: from this 
voyage he, however, returned unsuccessful. 

5, 1705. Leopold I., Emperor of Germany, died in the 
65th year of his age, and the 4/tk of his reign. In his 
wars against the Turks he was generally successful, though 
his capital was besieged by them in 1683, and was saved 
from destruction by John Sobieski, king of Poland.* 


* See Vienna, Bourn’s Gazetteer , and Ever, on Globes, art. 
Scutum Sobieski. 



MAY. 


175 


Against Louis XIV. he was unsuccessful, till assisted by 
the English, under the Duke of Marlborough. (See Blen¬ 
heim, and April 17, 1711, Bourn’s Gazetteer .) Leopold 
was so passionately fond of music, that, it is said, when he 
had performed the last offices with his confessor, he 
ordered his musicians to be sent for, and died during 
their performance. 

5, 1760. Lawrence Shirley, Earl Ferrers, was executed 
at Tyburn, for the murder of Mr. Johnson, his steward, 
at his seat at Stanton Harold, Leicestershire. (Bourn’s 
Gazetteer.') To this striking instance of the perfect 
equality of our excellent laws, we shall subjoin another 
in the person of the unfortunate Lord Dacre, who suffered 
death in 1542, at the age of twenty-four, for being an 
accomplice in the murder of Sir Nicholas Pelham’s game- 
keeper. A monument to his memory is erected in a 
church adjoining to the park of Hurstmonceaux-Castle, 
near Pevensey, in Sussex. See January 28, 1802. 

— 1785. Died Thomas Davies, who, for many years, 
was a respectable performer on the London stage. Quit¬ 
ting this profession, he commenced bookseller and author; 
and acquired considerable fame by his “Life of Garrick,” 
“ Dramatic Miscellanies,” &c., &c. 

— 1789. Expired Joseph Baretti, born at Turin in 
Piedmont, Italy, about the year 1716. He was a man of 
great talents and industry, and spent his time principally 
in teaching the Italian language in this country. By the 
publication of an Italian Dictionary, and of a Tour 
through Portugal and Spain, he made a considerable sum. 
In 1769, he was tried at the Old Bailey for stabbing a 
man in the Havmarket, when Johnson, Burke, Garrick, 
Goldsmith, and Reynolds, appeared to bear testimony to 
his character, and he was acquitted. In 1776, he quitted 
in disgust Mr. Thrale’s house, where he had been intro¬ 
duced by Dr. Johnson, and had been domesticated by the 
family; and by this sudden start of whim or ill-humour, 
involved himself in many difficulties. Towards his latter 
end, an indolence that sometimes accompanies old age,* 
and a total negligence of financial concerns, brought him 
very nigh to want; a pension of 80/ a year, given to him 
by the government, being his sole subsistence. 


* Nature, as it grows again toward earth, 

Is fashioned for the journey ; dull and heavy. 

Shakspeare’s Aphorisms . 




176 


MAY. 


5, 1821. Died, at Longwood, a villa six miles from Janies 
Town, St. Helena, in the sixth year of his exile and fifty- 
second of his age, that celebrated personage, Napoleon 
Bonaparte. He was buried in a romantic spot, near a 
crystal spring of water, and beneath some beautiful willow- 
trees. On the 4th, the island was swept by a tremendous 
storm, which tore up all the trees by the roots about 
Longwood. The 5th was another day of tempests; and 
about six in the evening, Napoleon, having pronounced 
“ Tete d’arnffie,” passed for ever from the dreams of 
battle. Family Library. 

— 1823. The First Stone of the London Orphan Asylum 
was laid at Clapton, in the parish of Hackney, and the 
building was opened on the 14th of June, 1825. 

6, Is the day chosen by the Greeks for the festival of Job, 
celebrated for his patience, his constancy, his piety, and 
his virtue, and who dwelt in the land of Uz.* 

The ancient of Uzzean land. Eudosia. 

He was a man of great probity and religion, and possessed 
great riches in cattle and slaves; which at that time were 
the chief wealth, even of princes, in Arabia and its vicinity. 
The time wherein this pious man lived is very much con¬ 
tested. His tomb also has been shewn in several places j 
the most celebrated is that near the springs of the Jordan, 
where, for many ages, a pyramid has been believed to be 
Job’s tomb. We meet with the name of Job in the an¬ 
cient martyrologies, with the title of prophet, saint, and 
martyr. The worship of him is of great antiquity, and 
very extensive among the Greeks and Latins : the latter 
keep his festival May 10th. 

Various conjectures have likewise been made by bib¬ 
lical critics, concerning the Book of Job. Some have 
imagined that Job himself wrote it at first in Syriac or in 
Arabic, and that Moses translated it into Hebrew. It is 
written in verse; and it is affirmed, that in all antiquity 
there is not a piece of poetry more copious, more lofty, 
more magnificent, more diversified, more adorned, or 
more affecting.f The history, as to the substance of it, 
is supposed to be true ; and the sentiments, reasons, and 


* The land of Uz, according to Dr. Wells, comprehended the 
environs of Damascus, and a considerable part of Arabia Petnea. 
See Arith. Quest. 10th edit., and Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 

f See Arith. Quest, art. Moses, and Exod. xv. 





MAY. 


177 

arguments of the several persons faithfully expressed : but 
it is thought very probable, that the terms and turns of 
expression are the poet’s own; and this poet, it is the 
decided opinion of Dr. Young,* was Moses. The excel¬ 
lent moral of the poem is well expressed in the following 
lines : 

Thou canst accomplish all things, Lord of might ! 

And ev’ry thought is naked to thy sight. 

But oh ! thy ways are wonderful, and lie 

Beyond the deepest reach of mortal eye. 

O’erwhelm’d with shame, the Lord of life I see ; 

Abhor myself, and give my soul to thee. 

Nor shall my weakness tempt thine anger more ; 

Man was not made to question , but adore. 

Young. 

The subject of the poem, in Dr. Good’s view,f are the 
trial and triumph of the integrity of Job. Scott, + in dif¬ 
ferent parts of the notes to his tine poetical version of this 
book, represents it as intended to vindicate the Divine 
government. In fact, it combines both together. 

6, 1631. Sir Robert Cotton died at his house in West¬ 
minster. His death is supposed to have been occasioned 
by base calumnies which were circulated towards the 
close of his meritorious life, and by the arbitrary proceed¬ 
ings of the Privy Council, who excluded him from the 
use of his valuable books and manuscripts, which now 
form the Cottonian Library at the British Museum. He 
was born at Denton, in Huntingdonshire, in 1570. 

— 1667. Died suddenly, while speaking in the Academy 
of Caen, of which place he was Protestant minister, Sa¬ 
muel Bochart, eminent for his skill in the Oriental 
languages. He was born in 159.9, at Rouen, a town in 
the province of Normandy, department of the Seine, 
France. 

— 1757. Battle of Prague, in which the Austrians 
were defeated by the king of Prussia, and their whole 
camp taken. In this famous engagement the brave 
Marshal Schwerin, a Prussian general, was killed. He 
was deeply lamented by the king, who immortalized 
the circumstances of his death by erecting a statue to his 
memory in one of the principal squares of Berlin. The 


* See Dr. Young’s Paraphrase of Part of the Book of Job. 


f See his Translation of the Book of Job. 


I The Ilev. Thomas Scott, a Dissenting Minister at Ipswich. 

1 3 



MAY. 


178 

celebrated Marshal Brown, the Austrian commander, also 
died soon after of the wounds that he received in this 
battle. See Oct. 14, 1758, and Bourn’s Gazetteer, art. 
Prague note. 

7, 1767/was the natal day of the Princess Royal of 
Prussia, who was married to the Duke of York, at Ber¬ 
lin, on the 29th of Sept. 1791. This amiable and bene¬ 
volent Princess died August G, 1820, and was buried, by 
her own desire, in Weybridge church, Surrey. 

8, 1429. The French, headed by the celebrated Joan 
d’Arc, compelled the English to raise the siege of Or¬ 
leans, now the capital of the department of Loiret. 
Joan d’Arc, commonly called the Maid of Orleans, was 
born in 1402, at the village of Domremy, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Vosges, province of Lorraine. 

— 1743. The good Bishop of Worcester. By this 
glorious epithet was long and generally known that emi¬ 
nent and distinguished prelate. Dr. John Hough, bishop 
of this diocese, who closed on this day liis pious and ex¬ 
emplary life in-the ninety-third year of his age, and the 
fifty-third of his episcopate. History and biography have 
embalmed his memory, by recording the noble stand that 
he made against the tools of tyranny, and the arbitrary 
measures of James II.; and the active part lie took in 
promoting the Glorious Revolution. He is com¬ 
memorated by an exquisitely beautiful monument in 
Worcester Cathedral. The memory of a Hough, says a 
judicious topographer, seemed to require the hand of a 
Roubilliac,* to embrace the widely-extended honours of 
his name, to hold, them forth to public veneration, and 
preserve the full benefit of his illustrious example to the 
present and future ages; an important duty, of which 
that accomplished artist has acquitted himself with infinite 
honour to his eminent talents. The larger figures have 
an air of life, and seem to want nothing but the vital fluid 
and the Almighty’s breath ; for mind and sentiment were 
certainly never elicited from marble with more forcible 
effect than is found in this admirable production of 
modern art. (Green’s Hist, of Worcester. See June 
29, 1813.) When Canova was in England he visited the 
city of Worcester for the purpose of viewing this monu¬ 
ment, and expressed the highest admiration of this chef- 
d’oeuvre. 


* See Sept. 21, 1327, note. 



MAY. 


1/9 


8, 1811. Retributive Justice. The Honourable Ar¬ 
thur Hodge was hanged in Tortola, one of the Virgin 
Islands in the West Indies, for the murder of his slave; 
but there were five other indictments in reserve, had it 
been found necessary, for the purposes of justice, to bring 
them forward. This monster of barbarity had for years 
been in the habit of wantonly flogging, lacerating, muti¬ 
lating, and exterminating at pleasure, those miserable, 
unprotected victims of his cruelty. This agonizing, soul- 
sickening “ tale of woe” is detailed in the fifth Report of 
the “African Institution,”* and also in an excellent pe¬ 
riodical work, the “Christian Observer,” for July 
1811. The same publications contain, moreover, a most 
horrid relation of the unparalleled atrocities of one Hug¬ 
gins, another notorious sanguinary actor on the “blood¬ 
stained” West-India theatre. The scene of his savage 
conduct was the Island of Nevis, where he was at length 
tried for murder, but acquitted, to the surprise, grief, and 
indignation of every honest man; the most irrefragable 
proofs of his guilt having been clearly established on his 
trial. Certain magistrates, however, who remained the 
tame and unconcerned spectators of some of his bloody 
deeds publicly exhibited, were dismissed from their 
posts by order of the Prince Regent, now George 
IV .; a circumstance which, combined with the ignomini¬ 
ous death of Hodge , will probably tend to meliorate the 
wretched condition of our oppressed dark-coloured bre¬ 
thren in the British Colonies. See May 1, 1807; April 
19, 1804; Oct. 18, 1756; Nov. 13, 1690; Arith. Quest, 
art. Sugar, and Exer. on the Globes , art. Apis. 

— 1814. Exile of Elba. On this day Bonaparte , who 
had been nearly ten years Emperor of the French, landed 
here as an exile. Elba is a small island, between the 
coast of Tuscany and the north part of the island of Cor¬ 
sica, and is celebrated for its iron mines. See May 5, 
1821, and Arith. Quest., 10th edit. art. Damask. 

— 1821. Captain Parry left the Thames on a second 
voyage for the discovery of a North-West passage to the 
Pacific.f The three vessels under his command reached 
the river again on the 18th of October, 1823, without 
accomplishing the object of their voyage. On the same 
day in 1824 he again left the Thames, and sailed on the 


* See Exer. on the Globes, 11th edit, 
f See May 4, IS 19. 



180 


MAY. 


] 9tli; but returned in Oct. 1825, with the loss of one of 
his ships, and without effecting the object of his voyage. 

9, 1502. Columbus sailed from Cadiz, in Spain, on his 
fourth voyage. 

10, 1671. Sir Edward Spragge destroyed twelve Al¬ 
gerine pirate ships at Bugea, a seaport in Algiers, Africa. 
This brave English admiral was unfortunately drowned, 
August 11, 1673, in an engagement with the Dutch, in 
which he had behaved with the greatest gallantry. His 
death was much lamented by his valiant opponent Van 
Trotnp, son of the famous admiral of that name. 

— 1 774. Louis XV., king of France, died at Versailles, 
of a second attack of the small-pox, in the 65th year of 
his age, and 60th of his reign. {Diet. Univ. Historique .) 
Had he died at Metz in 1744, when his military zeal and 
activity to expel the enemy from Alsace brought on him 
a dangerous fever, and when in the paroxysm of their 
grief his subjects pronounced him “ the well-beloved,” 
he would have been celebrated in history as one of the 
best of kings. But he long outlived any reputation which 
he had ever acquired, and became, finally, despised and 
detested, both as a king and a man. Ranken’s History 
of France, Vol. IX. 163. 

— 1775. The unfortunate Carolina Matilda, Queen of 
Denmark, and youngest sister to his late Majesty, George 
III, died at Zell, in his electoral dominions in Germany; 
to which place she had been brought at his Majesty’s 
request. See April 28, 1772. The Queen was taken oft' 
by a malignant fever in the twenty-fourth year of her age. 
She was married to the King of Denmark, Christian VII., 
in 1766. The king died in 1808, and was succeeded by 
his son, Frederick VI., who was born in 1768. 

— 1796. Bonaparte gained one of his most splendid 
victories at Lodi, near Parma, in the north of Italy. 

11, 1491, B. C. Pharaoh and his host were drowned in 
the Red Sea. See Arith Quest, and Geo. Escer. on the 
New Test. 

—- 1778. Expired William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, a 
most illustrious English statesman ; during whose adminis¬ 
tration as Prime Minister, Great Britain attained a height 
of prosperity and glory unknown to any former age. 
Added to his character'of an able statesman, a virtuous 
man, and a true patriot, he was also a most accomplished, 
orator; the music and majesty of his voice, the persuasive 
gracefulness and irresistible force of his action, and his 
power of eye, carried conviction with his argument, and 


MAY. 


ISi 


formed a perfect combination of excellence. He was 
born at Stratford-House, near Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, 
November 15, 1708, according- to some biographers: 
others say in St. James’s parish, Westminster. 

11, 1/82. Died Richard Wilson, a landscape painter of 
most distinguished merit; and who has been therefore 
styled “ The British Claude.” Mr. Wilson was born in 
1/14; and at first practised as a portrait painter; but 
visiting the fine scenes of Italy, he painted a small land¬ 
scape, and shewed it to Zucharelli, who succeeded in pre¬ 
vailing on him to confine his attention to that branch of 
the art; a department in which he gained the highest 
point of eminence.* 

•— 1812. The Honourable Spencer Perceval, Chan¬ 

cellor of the Exchequer, was shot in the lobby of the 
House of Commons by an assassin named Beliingham, 
who discharged a pistol at him, the bullet from which 
entered his breast and deprived him almost instantaneous¬ 
ly of life. His virtues had made all the world his friends, 
and his death was bewailed with a more unanimous and 
sensible sorrow than is usually given to the fate of those, 
the brightest and the best, who shine in times of political 
struggle, and reach the goal of political ambition.-—He 
was buried at Charlton, near Woolwich. (See Bourn’s 
Gazetteer .) A very interesting account is given of his 
assassination in the National Portrait Gallery, and in the 
Literary Gazette, Jan. 1830. 

12, 1641. The Earl of Strafford, a tyrannical minister 
in the time of Charles I., was beheaded The letter 
written by his Majesty, on the 21st of April in the same 
year, to this nobleman, assuring him, on the word of a 
King, that he should not suffer in life, honour, or fortune, 
is a proof, among many others, of the little reliance that 
was to be placed on the royal word of that deluded sove¬ 
reign. The letter may be seen in the Stralford State 
Papers, or in Elegant Epistles. 

— 1/91. Expired Francis Grose, F. S. A., the cele¬ 
brated illustrator of the “ Antiquities of England, Wales, 


* Two of this artist’s landscapes, viz. “ A View on the Arno, 
in Italy,” and “ A View of Tabley House, in Cheshire,” were in 
Sir J. Leicester’s collection ; and “ A View on the River Dee, 
near Eaton Hall,” is in Earl Grosvenor’s gallery. See Catalogues 
and Engravings of the Pictures in the Grosvenor and Leicester 
collections, by the late J, Young, Esq., Mezzotinto Engraver to 
his present Majesty. 



182 MAY. 

and Scotland,” in a series of views of monastic and other 
ruins. 

13, 1213. The ignominious King John resigned his king¬ 
dom to Pandolf, the Pope’s legate, at Dover. Thus we 
see that Britain, following the whole Christian world, was 
governed, in respect to its faith, by a foreign sovereign, 
who resided on the banks of the Tiber, but whose iron 
sceptre ruled both the Thames and the Tweed, and who 
indeed held the crown of England itself as lord para¬ 
mount , while a king was found so base, so cowardly, and 
so compliant, as to yield homage, and transmit a yearly 
tribute to the Holy See. See Pope, Index. 

— 1619. Barneveldt, an able and patriotic Dutch states¬ 
man, who on many occasions had shewed his zeal and 
attachment to his country, was beheaded at the Hague. 
He was accused of endeavouring to subvert the govern¬ 
ment, and was doomed to death by the partisans of prince 
Maurice, whose arbitrary measures he had opposed. This 
virtuous victim was more than 70 years old at his death. 

14, 33. The ascension of Jesus Christ from Mount 
Olivet,* near Jerusalem. See April 5, 33. 

There he sprang 

From this gross earth, and claim’d a purer air. 

At the right hand of Majesty on high 
To sit, with never-fading glory crown’d ; 

His name, throughout creation’s ample range 
Far above ev’ry other name extoll’d, 

Of being that exists on earth’s domain, 

Or through the fathomless abyss of heaven. 

Touch’d with a feeling of infirmities 
Such as deprav’d humanity laments, 

With ceaseless intercession there he pleads ; 

Perfects our wretched sacrifice of prayer 
And frail obedience ; ’fore the throne of God 
OfFring them up with the accepted claim 
Of his prevailing merits : gives our tears 
The wondrous efficacy to blot out 
The stains of guilt, indelible before ; 

And waits the round of time to judge the world, 

And introduce the honest penitent 

Into the ceaseless glory of his Lord. Hey. 

14, 1264. Was fouglit the famous Battle of Lewes, in 


* See Dr. Doddridge’s Family Expositor, and Geo. E.rer. on 
the New Testament. 




MAY, 


1S3 


Sussex, in which Henry III., his brother, and Prince 
Edward, (afterwards king,) were taken prisoners by the 
Earl of Leicester. See Aug. 4, 1265. 

14, 1610. Henry IV., King of France, justly styled “the 
Great,” was assassinated at Paris by the fanatical Ravail- 
lac. His heart and that of his queen were deposited in a 
chapel belonging to a college which was built by that 
monarch at La Feche, Province of Anjou, department of 
Sarte. It is seated on the river Loire, twenty-two miles 
north of Angers.* 

— 1643. Louis XIII., to whom flattery prostituted the 
title of Just, died at St. Germain-en-Laye.f He was the 
son of Henry IV., and of Mary de’Medicis, and survived 
his father exactly 33 years. He was timid, reserved, and 
unsocial, and suffered himself to be governed by the artful 
Richelieu. See Dec. 4, 1642. 

15, 1463. Battle of Hexham, in Northumberland; 
when the Yorkists gained a complete victory over the 
Lancastrians. The fate of the unfortunate Royal Family, 
after this defeat, was extremely singular and distressing. 
See Hume’s Hist, of England. 

— 1567. Mary Queen of Scots was married to Both well. 
See Feb. 10, 1567- 

— 1740. Expired Ephraim Chambers, author of that 
stupendous work, “ The Cyclopaedia, J the design of 
which he formed while in his apprenticeship with Mr. 
Senex, the globe-maker. 

The first copy of his Dictionary came out in 1728, in 
2 vols. folio, and the rapid sale of it, even in its early 
editions, is scarcely to be paralleled in the history of lite¬ 
rature. Dr. Hill and Mr. Scott continued it after Mr. 
Chambers’s death. The edition of Dr. Rees was, how¬ 
ever, the best; and the magnificent edition of it lately 
published, (see Jan. 1, 1820,) under that learned editor’s 
auspices, forms a work of national importance. The 
intellectual character of Mr. Chambers was sagacity and 
attention. His application was indefatigable; his tem¬ 
per cheerful, though somewhat impetuous; but neither 


* See Dec. 13, 1553; Dec. 29, 1594 ; and Dec. 21, 1641. 
f See Fontainbleau, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

+ The word Cyclopaedia comes from two Greek words— kvk\o<;, 
a circle; and vrccfistcc, learning or instruction, i. e. a circle of the 
sciences. 



MAY. 


184 


in Ills religion nor in his politics was he a slave to party. 
He was born at Kendal, in Westmoreland; died in 1740, 
and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. 

16, 1568. Mary Queen of Scots landed at Workington, 
in Cumberland, after the defeat of her army at Langside 
Hill, near Glasgow. She crossed Solway Frith from the 
Abbey of Dundrennan, in Galloway; a place which, 
though full sixty Scottish miles from the disastrous scene 
of action, Mary’s fears, it is said, impelled her to reach 
without closing her eyes. The battle was fought on the 
13th of May. 

— 1689. King William dined on board Admiral Her¬ 
bert’s ship at Portsmouth, where he knighted some of the 
officers, and distributed rewards among the seamen for 
their gallant behaviour in an engagement with the French 
fleet in Bantry Bay, in the county of Cork, Ireland. 

*— 1726. John Ward, of Hackney, was expelled the 
House of Commons for forgery. This notorious culprit, 
after his expulsion, was consigned to the pillory; on 
which disgraceful engine he was publicly exhibited March 
17 , 1727, at a period when he was supposed to be worth 
at least <£'200,000. This circumstance occasioned Pope 
to observe, that riches are 

Giv’n to the fool, the mad, the vain, the evil, 

To Ward, to Waters, Chartres, and the Devil. 

Chartres was a most abandoned wretch, notoriously 
infamous for the unblushing practice of every human vil- 
lany; but by a constant attention to the vices, wants, and 
follies of mankind, he acquired an immense fortune. Iiis 
character is admirably drawn by Dr. Arbuthnot, who, 
towards the conclusion, exclaims, “ O indignant reader! 
think not his life useless to mankind! Providence con¬ 
nived at his execrable designs, to give to after ages a con¬ 
spicuous proof and example, of how small estimation is 
exorbitant wealth in the sight of God, by his bestow¬ 
ing it on the most unworthy of all mortals.”* Char¬ 
tres died in Scotland in 173*1, aged 62. The populace at 
his funeral raised a great riot, almost tore the body out of 
the coffin, and cast dead dogs, &c., &c., into the grave 

* See April 16, 1687. The Divine Redeemer himself, it has 
been admirably observed, chose the condition of poverty, to shew 
the rich and proud of how little estimation are the trifles they 
doat upon, in the eye of Him that made them, and who can de¬ 
stroy them at his pleasure. 



MAY. 


185 


along’ with it.* The great fortune of Waters, the third 
of these worthies, was accumulated by the like diligent 
attendance on the necessities and distresses of others. 
The commodious house which Ward erected for his resi¬ 
dence at Hackney, is situated at the northern extremity 
of Church Street. The spot is still popularly known by 
the name of “ Ward’s Corner.” 

17, 1590. Anne of Denmark, wife of James VI. of Scot¬ 
land, was crowned in the Abbey of Holyrood House, near 
Edinburgh. She was a woman content with show and 
pleasure, who had no credit with her husbnnd, nor appears 
to have aimed at or deserved any; being, it is said, un¬ 
principled, vindictive, and unfaithful to the king. See 
Ency. Brit., August 20, 1589, and Nov. 16, 1589. 

— 1727. Expired, at Petersburgh, in about the 38th year 
of her age, that most extraordinary personage Catharine 
I. She was the illegitimate offspring of an obscure coun¬ 
try girl: the place of her birth was Ringen, a small village 
near Dorpt. (about 60 miles south of Narva,) in Livonia, 
of which district Riga is now the capital. Her being 
taken prisoner at Marienburgh, when that place was cap¬ 
tured by the Russians, was the occasion of her becoming 
the favourite, and at length the consort, of Peter the Great. 
Upon the demise of that monarch in 1725, Catharine was 
elevated to the throne, and declared Empress of Russia, 
chiefly through the intrigues of Prince Menzikoff.f By 
the most unwearied assiduity and unremitting attention, 
by the softness and complacency of her disposition, by the 
melody of her voice,} and by an extraordinary liveliness 
and gaiety of temper, Catharine acquired such a wonder¬ 
ful ascendancy over the mind of Peter, that she seemed 
necessary, not only to his comfort, but even to his very 
existence; she was his inseparable companion on his 
journeys, and even in all his military expeditions. The 
great reason why the Czar was so fond of her, was, it is 
universally said, her possessing that “ soul’s refreshing 
green,” an exceeding good temper; she was never seen 


* See Jer. xvi. 4; and Solomon observes, that “ when the 
wicked perish, there is shouting.” 

t See Nov. 2, 1729. Catharine had been crowned publicly at 
Warsaw, by Peter himself, in 1724. 

} There is no music like the voice 
Of those we love. Shakspeare’s Aphorisms. 



136 


MAY. 


peevish, nor out of humour. Being herself a “ contented 
spirit,” her uniformly amiable and cheerful deportment 
excited others to rejoice in, and to value the present 
moment.* 

Good humour will prevail 

When airs, and flights, and screams, and scolding fail. 

Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll; 

Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. 

Pope. 

17, 1729.' Died, Dr. Samuel Clarke, an eminent divine 
and philosopher, born at Norwich, October J1, 1675. At 
twenty-two years of age he contributed greatly to the 
establishment of the Newtonian philosophy, by his excel¬ 
lent translation and notes upon “ Rohault’sf Physics.” 
He afterwards turned his thoughts to divinity, and became 
involved in several controversies, both theological and 
philosophical. The character of Dr. Clarke may be sum¬ 
med up in few words: he was a man of deep penetra¬ 
tion, a sincere lover of truth, of singular sincerity, piety, 
and benevolence ,* and a bright and amiable example of 
the temper, studies, and practice becoming a Christian 
divine. 

— 1737. Libraries. The first stone of that superb struc¬ 
ture, the Radclivian Library at Oxford, was laid; and, 
being completely finished in 1749, was opened on Thurs¬ 
day, April 13, in that year. The famous Bodleian Library 
at Oxford, which was opened in 1602, exceeds that of 
any University in Europe. The King’s Library, formerly 
at Buckingham House, but now in the British Museum, 
was founded by Henry, eldest son of James I.J The 
Cottonian Library, and that of Sir Hans Slone, are kept 
in the British Museum. The other principal public Libra¬ 
ries in London are, those of the College of Heralds, the 
College of Physicians, of Doctors’ Commons, of Gray’s 
Inn, of Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Tem¬ 
ple ; that of Lambeth, that of the Royal Society, that of 
St. Paul’s, and that of Sion College; the Queen’s Library, 
erected by Queen Caroline in 1 737; the College of Sur¬ 
geons’ Library, kept in their hall or theatre in Lincoln’s 

* See Feb. 20, 1712, and April 6, 1348. 

t James Rohault was a French philosophical writer, born in 
1620, died in 1675. 

X See Nov. 6, 1612. 

+ s * l 




MAY. 187 

Inn Fields; and that of the London Institution, in 
Moorfields. 

Dr. Daniel Williams, a Presbyterian divine, who 
died in 1716, founded a Library in Red-Cross Street, 
which has since been enriched by many private benefac¬ 
tions. It contains about 20,000 volumes, and is con¬ 
ducted by twenty-three trustess, of whom thirteen are 
Dissenting Ministers, and the rest taken from the laity 
among the Dissenters. At this library the ministers of 
the Three Denominations* meet occasionally, to consult 
on affairs that concern the general interests of their re¬ 
spective societies ; and here the regular Dissenters, resid¬ 
ing in or near the metropolis, usually register the births 
of their children j the expense of each certificate is only 
one shilling. 

17, 1749. Was born at Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, Dr. 
Edward Jenner, the discoverer of Vaccination. See 
June 2nd and Aug. 11th. 

— 1768. Gave birth to the late Princess of Wales, 
daughter of the Duke of Brunswick. She landed at Green¬ 
wich on the 5th of April, 1795, and was married to the 
Prince, now George IV., three days afterwards. See Jan. 
7, 1796, and Augi 7, 1821. 

18, 979. King Edward, eldest son of King Edgar, was 
murdered near Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire, by order of 
his step-mother. Queen Elfrida. For his innocence and 
supposed miracles he obtained the surname of Martyr. 
He was buried first at Wareham, a place 10 miles from 
Poole, and afterwards at Shaftsbury, both of which are in 
Dorsetshire. 

— 1742. Lost his life, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, 
Richard Joy, who in King William’s reign had such 
reputation for extraordinary strength of body, that he 
was called “ The English Samson,”f and “ The Strong 
Man of Kent,” and was taken notice of by the King and 
Royal Family, and the courtiers, before whom he per¬ 
formed many of his feats. He afterwards followed the 
practice of smuggling, and was drowned. He was buried 
in St. Peter’s churchyard, near Margate, in the Isle of 
Thanet, Kent. 

— 1797. The Duke (afterwards king) of Wirtemberq 
Stutgard, in the circle of Suabia, Germany, was mar- 


* See Protestant, Index. 

t See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Samson and Ox. 




1S8 


MAY. 


ried to the Princess Royal of England, who became a 
widow in 1816, and died at Stutgard, on Oct. 6, 1828. 

19, 1536. Anne Boleyn, the innocent Queen of Henry 
VIII., was sacrificed to the cruelty of that tyrant, being 
decollated at the Tower. She behaved with the greatest 
serenity and cheerfulness. 

All worldly comfort—that which virtue gives, 

Unhurt on wheels, and free in prison, lives; 

The tyrant’s malice and his axe defies, 

Spurns the low earth, and, mounting, climbs the skies. 

Jacobinism. 

— 1692. The English gained a splendid victory over the 
French, near Cape la Hogue, Normandy, department of 
the Channel, France. The French lost twenty of their 
largest men of war, and by this glorious defeat were pre¬ 
vented from making a descent upon England.* 

— 1744. Gave birth to Charlotte, Queen of England, 
consort of George III. Her Majesty was the daughter of 
the Duke of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, Lower Saxony, in 
the north of Germany. See Nov. 17, 1818. 

— 1788. Expired, the Rev. Samuel Badcock, an acute 
and ingenious critic and controversial writer, born at 
South Molton, a village 12 miles to the south of Barn¬ 
staple, Devonshire, in 1750. At the early age of nine¬ 
teen, he was at the head of a very considerable Presby¬ 
terian congregation at Barnstaple, and was afterwards 
chosen minister of a Dissenting church at his native place. 
About three years before his death, he conformed to the 
Established Church, and laboured, like many other un¬ 
principled and despicable apostates, to prove the sincerity 
of his conversion by the outrage of malice on his first 
connexions.—See Mr. Wakefield’s Memoirs , pp. 237, 
238, 1 st edit. 

— 1795. James Boswell, a native of Edinburgh, ex¬ 
pired in Great Portland Street, London, in the fifty-fifth 
year of his age. His “ Life of Dr. Johnson,” with whom 
he lived in habits of the closest intimacy, has been received 


* Their object in this descent was not only to distress England, 
but to aid the interests of the expatriated James II. Mr. West 
has painted a fine picture descriptive of the battle of La Hogue: 
it is in Earl Grosveuor’s Gallery, and has been engraved by the 
celebrated Woollet. The principal figure directing the attack is 
Sir George Rooke, the same officer who, in Queen Anne’s reign, 
took Gibraltar. The small figure in the distance is the unfortu¬ 
nate, because imprudent, King James II. 



MAY. 


189 


by the world with the utmost avidity. It is a faithful 
history of the Great Moralist’s life and opinions, and ex¬ 
hibits a most interesting- picture of his character deline¬ 
ated with a masterly hand : and it may truly be said, that 
the wisdom of Socrates, with the pleasantry and acuteness 
of Montaigne, characterize that most agreeable publica¬ 
tion. With some learning and much conversation-talent, 
however, Mr. Boswell had one failing, which must be 
mentioned, as it deducts greatly from the general merit of 
whosoever possesses it ; it was the grossest egotism both 
in his speech and writings. Too often was he himself 
“ the hero of each petty tale.” 

20, 1497. Americus Vesputius, a native of Florence, an 
elegant city on the Arno, in Tuscany, sailed from Cadiz, 
in Spain, on a voyage of discovery westwards ; and being 
a man of much address, as well as possessed of considera¬ 
ble literary talents, by publishing the first voyages on the 
subject, and other artful means, he gave his name to the 
New World, in prejudice to the illustrious Genoese, Co¬ 
lumbus, its real discoverer. The imposture, though long 
since detected, has been sanctioned by time; and the 
fourth division of the globe, so long unknown to the inha¬ 
bitants of Europe, Asia, and Africa, still continues to be 
distinguished by the name of America. 

— 1506. Expired, at Valladolid, in the province of Leon, 
Spain, Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the 
New World. “ He died,” says Dr. Robertson, “ with a 
composure of mind suitable to the magnanimity which 
distinguished his character, and with sentiments of piety 
becoming that supreme respect for religion which he 
manifested in every occurrence of his life.” Some au¬ 
thors say that he was buried at Seville;* and that his 
tomb is before the choir of the cathedral; others, how- 


* Seville is a large and populous city, on the banks of the Gua¬ 
dalquivir, in the province of Andalusia. It has a most magnifi¬ 
cent cathedral, to which belongs a library of 20,000 volumes, col¬ 
lected by Hernando, the son of Columbus, who was buried in the 
cathedral, called to this day the Columbine Library, but, to the 
disgrace of the Spaniards, it has scarcely received any addition 
since the death of the founder. The principal manufacture of 
Seville is snuff, of which they make an immense quantity, and 
also of segars, which are little rolls of tobacco that the Spaniards 
smoke witliout a pipe. The oranges usually, but vulgarly, called 
civil oranges, came originally from Seville. See Bourn’s Gazet¬ 
teer. 



190 


MAY, 


ever, assert, that his body, after interment at Seville, was 
conveyed to St. Domingo, where it remained till 1796, 
when the island being ceded to the French, it was re¬ 
moved to the Havannah, in the island of Cuba. (See 
Domingo and Havannah, Bourn’s Gazetteer; Malte 
Brun’s Geo. Vol. V. 582; and Twiss’s Travels.) Co¬ 
lumbus was a subject of the republic of Genoa, but nei¬ 
ther the time nor the place of his nativity is known with 
certainty. To Genoa is usually ascribed the honour of 
having given him birth; but some have mentioned Con- 
conato, in Piedmont, as the place where he first drew 
breath. 

20, 1553. The gallant Sir Hugh Willoughby took his 
departure from Radclitfe, in the Bona Esperanza, with 
two other ships, on his fatal voyage for discovering the 
north-east passage to China. He sailed with great pomp 
by Greenwich, where the court then resided. Mutual 
honours were paid on both sides. The council and cour¬ 
tiers appeared at the windows, and the people covered the 
shores. The young king* alone lost the noble and novel 
sight, for he then lay on his death-bed; so that the princi¬ 
pal object of the parade was disappointed. See Hack- 
luyt’s Voyages , or Pennant’s London, and July 6th. 

Sir Hugh Willoughby was unfortunately entangled in 
the ice with his own ship, and one of his companions and 
himself, and the crews of both ships, were frozen to death 
on the coast of Lapland; an event which is thus affeet- 
ingly described by Thomsonf in his winter; 

In these fell regions, in ArzinaJ caught. 

And to the stony deep his idle ship 
Immediate seal’d, he with his hapless crew, 

Each full exerted at his several task. 

Froze into statues; to the cordage glued 
The sailor, and the pilot to the helm. 

— 1736. Singular Funeral. On this day the body of 
Samuel Baldwin, Esq., was, in compliance with an injunc¬ 
tion in his will, immersed, sans eeremonie in the sea at 


* Edward VI., who died July 6, 1553. 

f In all the editions of Thomson’s Seasons which we have 
seen, it is stated that Sir Hugh Willoughby was sent out on this 
perilous voyage by Queen Elizabeth, who did not begin her reign 
until the year 1558. 

I A river of Russian Lapland, in whose bay Sir Hugh’s own 
ship and another vessel are said to have perished. 



MAY. 


191 


Lymington, Hants. His motive for this extraordinary 
mode of interment, was to prevent his wife from “ danc¬ 
ing over his grave,” which this modern Xantippe* had 
frequently threatened to do, in case she survived him. 

20,1/99. Bonaparte raised the siege of Acre, after fail¬ 
ing in a twelfth assault on it, made over the putrid, unbu¬ 
ried bodies of his soldiers. He abandoned his train of 
artillery, and about 2000 of the worst of his wounded 
men, having first massacred his Turkish prisoners in cold 
blood. See March 30, 1799. 

— 17P9. Died Joseph Towers, LL.D., a learned divine 
among the Protestant Dissenters, whose memory will be 
ever dear to the friends of rational liberty. Among his 
early productions was a very interesting performance in 
seven volumes, entitled, “ British Biography ;”f and, in . 
connexion, with his enlightened friend Dr. Kippis, he 
afterwards wrote in the new edition of the “ Biographia 
Britannica,” between fifty and sixty lives, to which the 
signature of T. is annexed. Of his “ Memoirs of Frede¬ 
rick III., King of Prussia,” J a work highly discriminating, 
and rich in information, the first edition was published in 

2 vols. 8vo. in 17-88; and of his tracts a part were re¬ 
printed in 1796, in 3 vols. 8vo. His observations on 
Hume and on Dr. Johnson, which are included in this 
collection, are particularly masterly and valuable. Dr. T. 
was born in Southwark, in 1737- 

21, The sun enters into the constellation 11 , the Twins. 
See Exercises on the Globes. 

— 216 B. C. Battle of Cannae, in which Hannibal, the 
renowned Carthaginian general, defeated the Romans 
with prodigious slaughter. (S eeArith. Quest. 10th edition.) 


* Xantippe, the wife of Socrates, was remarkable for her ill- 
humour and peevish disposition, which are become proverbial. 
She continually tormented him with her impertinence ; aud one 
day, not satisfied with using the most bitter invectives, she emp¬ 
tied a vessel of dirty water on his head; upon which the philo¬ 
sopher coolly observed, that after thunder there generally falls 
rain. —See Arith. Quest, art Luxury, Roman. 

f A new and enlarged edition of this work, entitled the “ Bri¬ 
tish Plutarch,” has been published by the Rev. Francis Wrangham, 
which the Monthly Reviewers recommend to the perusal of the 
youth of both sexes, as likely to supply them with a rich store of 
examples for imitation, of precepts for practice, and of amuse¬ 
ment for the social or the solitary hour. M. R. July 1818. 

X See Bourn’s Gazetteer, art. Potsdam, note. 




192 


MAY. 


Cannae was on the Aufidus, now the Ofanto, Naples, 
Italy. 

21, A. D. 1471* Prince Edward, only son of Henry VI., 
was inhumanly assassinated at Tewkesbury, in Glouces¬ 
tershire, and was buried in the abbey church of that place. 
See the 4th of this month. 

— 152/. Philif II. was born at Valladolid, Spain. See 
Sept. 13, 1598. 

— 1C62. The marriage between King Charles II. and 
the Infanta Catharine of Portugal, was solemnized at 
Portsmouth. She was the daughter of John IV., and sister 
of Alfonso VI. See January 28, 1641. She had Tangier 
in Africa, Bombay in the East Indies, and about 300,000/. 
sterling for her dowry. This Princess survived her con¬ 
sort many years. After Charles’s death she returned to 
her native country, where she died in 1705. See Arith. 
Quest., art. Infanta. 

— 1814. The term British ajcd Foreign School 
Society, was adopted instead of the Lancasterian , or 
Royal British System of Education. It is well observed 
by the Committee of this most benevolent institution, that 
the present times are big with events calculated to pro¬ 
mote the happiness of mankind. The imparting of 
knowledge must ever be viewed as the grand means of 
elevating the human character; and so for as the com¬ 
municating of instruction is directed to afford an univer¬ 
sal access to the volume of inspiration, it is placed 
upon principles which may unite Christians of every de¬ 
nomination in one firm and vigorous association, having 
for its object the removal of ignorance from the earth. 
The institution, therefore, gives no countenance to the 
peculiar doctrines of any sect; it recommends the read¬ 
ing of the Bible, and in this it follows the direction of 
our Saviour : “ Search the Scriptures, for they are they 
that testify of me.” Being constituted on this simple 
and comprehensive principle, it does not exclude the aid 
of any persons professing to be Christians. Its object 
is, not only to establish schools in England, Scotland, 
and Ireland, for the education of the poor of all religious 
persuasions; but even to extend its benefits to North 
America, India, and Africa. 

It has been admirably remarked, that if there be any 
one circumstance which has more than another contri¬ 
buted to exalt this country to the high rank which she 
holds among the surrounding nations, it is the acknow¬ 
ledged superiority which it enjoys in respect to the means 


MAY. 


193 


of education. This is an advantage which invariably leads 
to the most beneficial results. A good education directly 
tends to raise the standard of morals, and to improve the 
characters of those who enjoy it; to excite and diffuse a 
spirit of useful exertion; to increase the energies of the 
mind, and to bring them to bear with more effect on all 
the objects of human pursuit; to meliorate the condition 
of individuals and of society, and to promote the general 
happiness of life. Hence every friend of humanity will 
desire to see the benefits of education widely diffused, and 
will co-operate with any rational plan by which that end 
is likely to be accomplished.—Let it be remembered, 
says Dr. Johnson, that the efficacy of ignorance has long 
been tried, and has not produced the consequence ex¬ 
pected. Let knowledge, therefore, take its turn; and let 
the patrons of privation stand awhile aside, and admit 
the operation of positive principles. See Education, 
Lancasterian, Index; also the same article in the Arith. 
Quest. 10th edit., and Geo. Ewer, on the Neto. Test. 

22, 334 B. C. The battle of the Granicus ; in which Alex¬ 
ander the Great, with 30,000 Macedonians, defeated 
600,000 Persians. The Granicus was a river of Mysia, 
in Asia Minor. It discharged itself into the Propontis. 
See Arith. Quest. 

— A. D. 1455. The first battle of St. Alban’s, in Hert¬ 
fordshire ; in which the Yorkists slew about 5,000 of the 
Lancastrians, without suffering any material loss them¬ 
selves. See Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 3d edit. 

— 1498. Vasco de Gama landed at Calicut, and was the 
first European who doubled the Cape of Good Hope. See 
July 9, and Dec. 24. 

— 1773. Died at Stepney, John Entick, an English 
divine, who published a “ Spelling Dictionary,” that 
has gone through many editions; a “ History of the 
War which terminated in 1763,” and a “ History of 
London.” 

— 1782. Formosa, a fine large island, about 100 miles 
E. of Canton, in China, was overwhelmed and almost 
totally destroyed by a furious hurricane and a dreadful 
inundation of the sea. See Arith. Quest. 

— 1814. Died, aged sixty-three, at Oxford, the Rev. 
Joseph White, D. D., Regius Professor of Hebrew, 
and Laudian Professor of Arabic in that University. He 
was born of humble parents, in Gloucestershire, and 
followed his father’s employment, that of a weaver, till 
his self-acquired attainments in knowledge attracted the 

K 


194 


MAY. 


notice of a gentleman in the neighbourhood, who gene¬ 
rously sent him to college, where he applied himself with 
singular success to the study of Oriental literature. One 
of his learned publications was entitled, “ Diatesseron,” 
or the History of our Saviour, in the original expressions 
of the Four Evangelists, collected and collated with each 
other, in the Greek language. This highly useful and 
interesting work has given rise to two English Diates- 
serons; one by Mr. Tliirlwall, and another by Mr Warner. 
See the Preface to the Geo. Eater, on the New Test. 

23, 1533. Sentence of divorce was pronounced by Arch¬ 
bishop Cranmer against Catharine of Arragon, in the 
Priory of Dunstable. See January 6 and June 3. 

— 1617. Was born at Lichfield, in Staffordshire, the 
famous herald and antiquary, Elias Ashmole, founder 
of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. He died in 1692, 
at Lambeth. Though learned himself, and a liberal pa¬ 
tron of learning, he was an implicit confider in astrolo¬ 
gical predictions, and in other respects lamentably tinc¬ 
tured with the superstitious credulity of the age.* 

— 1706. The Duke of Marlborough gained a famous 
victory over the French at Ramillies, a place about ten 
miles north of Namur, in the Netherlands. In this me¬ 
morable engagement. Ensign Gardiner, then in the nine¬ 
teenth year of his age, received a shot in his mouth from 
a musket-ball, which, without beating out any of his 
teeth, or touching the fore part of his tongue, went 
through his neck, and came out about an inch and a half 
on the left side of the vertebrce. He felt no pain, but 
dropped soon after, and lay all night on the spot where 
he had been wounded, among his dying companions; he 
however recovered in an almost miraculous manner, and 
became, from a most profligate youth, a character eminent 
for piety. See Sept. 21, 1745. 

— 1829. Captain Ross, in the Victory, a steam vessel, 
departed from Woolwich, to attempt once more the dis¬ 
covery of a north-west passage. 

24, 1153. David I., king of Scotland, died after a reign 
of 29 years. He was contemporary with Stephen, king 
of England, and was regretted by his subjects as a father 
rather than the best of kings He was found dead in a 
posture of devotion. 

— 1357* Edward the Black Prince made his public 


* See some admirable observations on this subject, Exer. on 
Globes , 11th edit. 



MAY. 


195 


entry from Southwark with his royal captive, John, king 1 
of France, whom he had taken prisoner at the battle of 
Poictiers the preceding year. He had landed, according 
to different authors, at Sandwich, Plymouth, or Ports¬ 
mouth, on the 5th. See Arith. Quest., also April 8, 1364, 
and Sept. 19, 1356. 

24, 1543. Died, Nicholas Copernicus,* a celebrated 
mathematician, philosopher, and physician, born at Thorn, 
in Prussia, January 19, 1472. The chamber in which 
he first drew breath is still religiously preserved. He 
was buried in the most ancient church of Thorn. (See 
Bourn’s Gazetteer.') His father was a stranger, from 
what part of Europe is not known; and the last of the 
family died on the 11th of August, 1601.f The genius 
of Copernicus led him to astronomy, and he travelled to 
teach his system at Rome, which was that of Pythagoras]; 
revived. It is now universally received, as confirmed by 
phenomena, and to be accounted for by the principles 
of gravitation. The Copernican hypothesis makes the 
sun the centre of the system, and the earth to move not 
only round the sun, but round its own axis also. See 
Exer. on the Globes, and Arith. Quest, art Solar System. 


* Lalande, in his History of Astronomy for the year 1798, 
says, “ The date of the death of the great Copernicus, was, till 
lately, a problem. I resolved it in my tour. Copernicus died on 
the 11th of June, 1543, although Gassendi and VVeidler date this 
circumstance on the 24th of May, and Planche the 11th of July.” 
The Ency. Brit. (art. Astronomy, page 421) states his death as 
having happened on the 23rd of May. 

f See Wraxall’s Court of Berlin, Vol. II. p. 140. 

] Pythagoras, the celebrated philosopher, was, as is generally 
believed, a native of Samos, an island in the Archipelago ; hence 
he is often styled the “ Samian Sage.” The time and place of 
his death are unknown ; yet some suppose that he perished in a 
sedition at Metapontum, a town of Lucania, west of Tarentum, 
in Italy, about 497 years before Christ. So great was the vene¬ 
ration of the people of Magna Grsecia for this eminent philoso¬ 
pher, that he received the same honours as were paid to the im¬ 
mortal gods, and his house became a sacred temple. See Exer. 
on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Pythagoras. 

Magna Grsecia comprised Apulia, Lucania, and the country of 
the Brutii. This district, which was situated in the southern part 
of Italy, was called Greece, because most of the cities on the coast 
were Greek colonies. The inhabitants, according to Pliny, gave 
it the name of Great, uot as if it was larger than Greece, but 
merely out of ostentation. 



196 MAY. 

24, 1689. The Act of Toleration was passed. See 
Index. 

— 1802. A bill brought into the House of Commons to 
abolish bull-baiting, was thrown out, chiefly in conse¬ 
quence of the late Mr. Windham having made a very 
singular speech for the continuation of this savage cus¬ 
tom, so disgraceful to humanity; and which is practised 
principally by a motley assemblage of cruel, depraved, 
drunken, idle, riotous, rif-raff ragamuffins.* It is asto¬ 
nishing that, under the silly pretence of stimulating the 
courage of the common people, any one in a Christian 
nation should plead in behalf of cock-fighting, bull-bait¬ 
ing, and other cruel practices, which are all abhorrent 
to the genuine spirit of civilization and Christianity. 
True bravery and heroism are very dissimilar from fero¬ 
city, and derive their origin as well as their support from 
very different principles and dispositions. 

— 1814. The Pope restored. On this day the Pope, 
Pius VII., made his grand public entrance into Rome, 
amid the acclamations of the people. Advocates for the 
rapid advancement of human intellect have lately been 
romantic in the anticipation of a flood of light and know¬ 
ledge which they thought was beginning to overspread 
Europe. Italy, Spain, and France, in particular, they ima¬ 
gined, were to be speedily emancipated from superstition 
and despotism, and the structure of the whole Christian 
world to be ameliorated. But, alas! by the rapid and 
unexpected vicissitudes of human affairs, these brilliant 
visions have been dissipated. The Pope has been restored 
to Rome; the sanguinary Inquisition re-established in 
Spain; and France has been re-consecrated to the Vir¬ 
gin Mary as its special patroness! Well has it been ob¬ 
served, that while the virtuous and well-informed are 
greatly out-numbered by the ignorant, worldly-minded 
and vicious. Truth will be oppressed rather than encou¬ 
raged, and Error will continue to be decorated with all 
the badges of fashion and popularity. Pius died in 1823. 
See Butler’s Arith. Tables , p. 30. 

25, 121/. Louis, Dauphin of France, afterwards Louis 
VIII., was defeated at Lincoln by the barons, by whom he 
had been invited to assist them against king John, and 
soon afterwards returned to France. 

— 1660. Charles II. arrived at Dover, in Kent, from 


* See March 31, 1654, and April 4, 1789. 



MAY. 197 

his exile, after an absence of nine years. See Jan. 3, 

1670 . 

25, 1805. Expired at Carlisle, in the 63rd year of his 
age. Dr. William Paley, whose name will be long 
dear to the Christian and the Philosopher. He was a 
learned divine and an elegant writer on ethics, born at 
Peterborough, and educated at Cambridge. His “ Moral 
and Political Philosophy” was prepared at the desire of 
his friend. Bishop Law. In it he defines virtue to be 
“ the doing of good to mankind, in obedience to the will 
of God, and for the sake of everlasting happiness. The 
tendency of any action to promote or diminish the gene¬ 
ral happiness, is the fairest criterion for ascertaining the 
will of God by the light of nature, because he wills the 
happiness of his creatures.”—His “View of the Evi¬ 
dences of Christianity” is unquestionably one of the ablest 
defences of the Christian religion that has ever appeared; 
and it has been as popular as it is really excellent.— 
His “Natural Theology,” the object of which is to de¬ 
monstrate the existence and attributes of the Deity from 
the appearances of Nature, is universally allowed to be 
the best manual of Theism hitherto published: it forms 
an excellent companion to Dereham’s “ Physico-Theo- 
logy.”—The “ Horse Paulinae,” (Pauline Hours,) or the . 
Truth of the Scripture History of St. Paul evinced, pos¬ 
sesses the combined merits of originality, acuteness, and 
solid reasoning. The evening of this great and good 
man’s life was clouded with no unpleasing recollections, 
no vain anxieties, no fond regrets : he had lived a virtu¬ 
ous and a useful life; and he relied for future happiness 
on the promises of that divine revelation, the trutli of 
which he had laboured so earnestly to defend. His last 
moments were accordingly those of peace and consola¬ 
tion. Dr. Paley was Archdeacon of Carlisle, Sub-dean 
of Lincoln, and Rector of Bishop-Wearmouth, adjoining 
to Sunderland, and twelve miles from Durham. 

_ 1824. Mr. Harris and a Miss Stocks ascended in 

a balloon from the garden of the Eagle Tavern, City 
Road; when, after passing over London, the balloon 
descended so rapidly in the neighbourhood of Beddington, 
Surrey, that the aeronauts were precipitated from a great 
height with such force, that Mr. H. was killed on the 
spot, and Miss S. was severely bruised. 

26, Constant twilight commences in the latitude of Lon¬ 
don, and continues till the 18th of July. See Eccer. on 
Globes , art. Twilight. 

— 1784. Commenced the commemoration of Handel, 


198 


MAY. 


in Westminster-Abbey; a musical exhibition which con¬ 
tinued three days successively. It was the grandest of 
the kind ever attempted in any nation, and afforded one 
of the most magnificent spectacles which the imagination 
can delineate; their majesties, most of the first person¬ 
ages in the kingdom, and between 3 and 4,000 of the 
public in general, being present. The musical band 
contained upwards of 500 performers. See Dr. Bur¬ 
ney’s History of Music, and April 13, 1814, and April 
14, 1759. 

26, 1824. Died at Moncallier, near Turin, Capel Lofft, 
Esq., the patron of the poet Bloomfield, and author of 
several valuable works, and of the philosophical poem 
Eudosia, frequently quoted by the late author of the 
present work, in his Exer. on the Globes , and from 
which numerous extracts have been made by the editor 
of that work in an Appendix to it. 

27, 1541. The venerable Margaret, Countess of Salis¬ 
bury, was beheaded in -the Tower. This illustrious 
woman was daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, and 
of Isabella, daughter of Nevil, Earl of Warwick, called 
the King-maker, and last of the royal line of Plantagenet 
This seems to have been her only crime, except that of 
being mother to Cardinal Pole, to whom the tyrant, 
Henry VIII., bore the most inveterate hatred. When 
the executioner directed her to lay her head on the 
block, she refused to do it; telling him, that she knew 
of no guilt, and would not submit to die like a traitor. 
He pursued her about the scaffold, aiming at her hoary 
head, and at length took it off, after mangling the poor 
victim of seventy years of age, in the most barbarous 
manner. See Pennant’s London, or IIijme; and Far¬ 
ley, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1564. John Calvin, the celebrated Reformer, died 
at Geneva, in Switzerland. He was born at Noyon,* 
July 10, 1509. He was a man of eminent talents and 
extensive learning; but his extreme rigour, and his de¬ 
fence of the burning of heretics, not only raised him 
many enemies, but greatly dishonoured his religious pro¬ 
fession. See Oct. 27, 1553. 

— 1600. Matins of Moscow. The word “matins” 
is derived from the Italian rnattina, or the French matins 
morning, and means the first part in the daily service in 


* Noyon is situated east of Beauvais, aud near the river Oise, 
in the department of Oise, Fi ance. 







MAY. 


199 


the Romish Church. The matins of Moscow denote the 
assassinaton of Prince Demetrius, and all the Poles, his 
adherents, at Moscow, the ancient capital of Russia, at 
six o’clock in the morning. In like manner, French 
matins imply the massacre of St. Bartholomew, in 15/2. 
See Sicilian Vespers , March 30, 1282. 

2/, 1/99. Addison’s Library. On this and the three 
following days, the library of the illustrious Addison was 
sold publicly in London, by Messrs Leigh and Sotheby, 
for the sum of 456/. 2s. 9 d. The books, &c., were re¬ 
moved from Bilton, long the residence of the immortal 
Addison, about a mile from the banks of “Avon’s classic 
stream,” and adjacent to Rugby, in Warwickshire A 
view and a particular account of Addison’s dwelling- 
house are given in “ Ireland’s Picturesque Views on the 
Upper or Warwickshire Avon,” and also in an entertain¬ 
ing work entitled, “ Addisonia.” See June 17, 1719. 

28, 1546. Cardinal Beaton, the “ Bonner of Scotland,” 
was assassinated in the Castle of St. Andrews. The 
immediate cause of this murder was his severity to the 
Reformers, and particularly the barbarous and illegal 
execution of the famous George Wishart, a pious 
and popular preacher, whom the Cardinal condemned to 
the flames alive for heresy; and he exultingly beheld 
from his own window the dismal spectacle of Wishart’s 
sufferings and death. 

— 1672. Was fought, in the reign of Charles II., an ob¬ 
stinate naval engagement, in Southwold, or Solebay, 
in Suffolk, between the English and Dutch; the latter 
were defeated : the former were commanded by the Duke 
of York, afterwards James II., whose personal example, 
and whose wise nautical regulations, when sovereign, 
greatly benefited the English navy. See Miscell. Quest, 
in Eng-. Hist. 

— 1828. In Upper Brook Street, died the Hon. Anne 
Seymour Damer, the celebrated amateur sculptress. 
Her elegant, tasteful, and classical productions are widely 
scattered. At the suggestion of her relative Sir Alexander 
Johnstone, with a view to aid the advancement of Eu¬ 
ropean arts in India, she sent a bust of Nelson* fo the 
King of Tanjore ; and she presented another bust of this 
hero to the Corporation of London, which is placed in 


* See August 1, 1798, and Oct. 21, 1805. 




200 


MAY. 


the Common Council Room at Guildhall. Her beautiful 
bust of Sir Joseph Banks* at the British Museum is well 
known, but perhaps the most public of her works are 
the colossal heads of the Thames and Isis on Henley 
Bridge. 

28, 1829. Sir Humphrey Davy, whose valuable discoveries 
in chemistry have contributed to the improvement of 
various arts, died at Geneva. He was a native of Pen¬ 
zance, Cornwall. 

29, 1379. Henry II. of Castile, the illegitimate brother 
of Peter the Cruel, whom he killed with his own hand 
in 1369, expired, after having requested to be clothed in 
the habit of St. Dominic.f He was one of the bravest 
princes of his time, and beloved by his subjects for his 
mild and affable behaviour. 

— 1453. Constantinople was taken by Mahomet II., 
Emperor of the Turks; and thus, after an existence of 
ten centuries from its commencement under Constantine 
the Great, ended the Greek empire. It had been bravely 
defended by Constantine Paleologus, whose body was 
found under a heap of slain, and was recognized by the 
golden eagles embroidered on his shoes. The Greeks 
acknowledged, with tears, the head of their late emperor, 
and Mahomet bestowed on his rival the honours of a 
decent funeral. The capture of this city is one of the 
greatest events in the history of Modern Europe. It 
established the Turks in Europe: they originally came 
from Turcomania, a district near the Caspian Sea, in 
Asia. While it was thus productive of evil, it operated 
beneficially on mankind, for it occasioned the revival of 
literature in the 15th century, after a long night of dark¬ 
ness, and opened to Europe the intellectual riches of the 
Greeks. See Ever, on the Globes , art. Ottoman. 

— 1660. Charles II. was restored, being' the anniversary 
of his birth-day. He was born in 1630, and was the son 
of Charles I. and Henrietta, daughter of Henry IV. of 
France. 

— 1821. Died, by an untimely fate, Charles Alfred 
Stothard, son of Thomas Stothard, Esq., R. A. 
This ingenious son of an ingenious father was eminent 
for his knowledge of ancient architecture and costume. 
He published “ Monumental Effigies of Great Britain ,” 


* See June 19, 1820. 


t See p. 36. 



MAY. 


201 


and was deputed by the Antiquarian Society to take a 
copy of the famous tapestry at Bayeux, in France. In this 
journey, which extended through Normandy and Bri- 
tanny, he was accompanied by Mrs. Stothard,* who com¬ 
municated the result to the public in “ Letters from Nor - 
mandtf,” &c., which were illustrated by the fine drawings 
of Mr. S. Having been requested by the Rev. D. Lysons 
to make some sketches for an account of Devonshire in 
the “ Magna Britannia Mr. Stothard proceeded to that 
county; and while employed by means of a ladder in 
making tracings from fragments of stained glass in the 
window of Bere Ferris* church, the ladder gave way, and 
the unfortunate artist was killed, it is supposed, by a 
concussion of the brain received during his fall, while he 
came in contact with the effigies of a knight in the chan¬ 
cel.—If the hero who dies while sustaining the glories of 
his country—if the statesman whose expiring accents are 
heard in the senate vindicating’ the great cause of truth 
and freedomf—and if the philosopher whose ardent thirst 
of knowledge terminates his life, + excite sympathy and 
admiration, surely the artist who falls a sacrifice to labours 
which delight and instruct mankind, may also claim the 
tender thought and gratitude of the present and future 
generations. 

Murillo’s death, in 1685, was occasioned by a fall from 
a scaffold which had been erected for him when engaged 
on a painting in the Church of the Capuchins at Cadiz. 
He was 70 years of age. 

30, 1431. Joan d’Arc, whose heroic behaviour had reani¬ 
mated the expiring valour of the French nation, was burnt 
alive by the English, as a sorceress, at Rouen, department 
of the Lower Seine, France; a punishment equally bar¬ 
barous, dishonourable, and impolitic. This admirable 
heroine, heading a sally made by the garrison of Com- 
piegne, was taken prisoner by the Burgundians. The 
common opinion was, that the French officers, finding the 
merit of every action ascribed to her, had, in envy to her 
renown, by which they themselves were so much eclipsed, 
willingly exposed her to this fatal accident. The service 


* Bere Ferris is situated four miles north-west of Plymouth, 
on the Tamar. Bourn's Gazetteer. 

f Lord Chatham. X Pliny. See August 23, 

k 3 



202 


MAY. 


of Te Deum* which has so often been profaned by- 
princes, was publicly celebrated on this fortunate event 
at Paris, then in the hands of the English, who afterwards 
purchased the unhappy captive of the Burgundians. A 
statue is erected to her memory on the spot where her 
cruel sentence was executed, and an inscription engraven 
beneath it in her honour. Who would not die, demands 
Mr. Wraxall, to merit two of the lines which compose it ? 

“-Exuit flammis quod mortale, 

Superest gloria nunquam moritura 1” 

Which may be thus paraphrased : 

All that was mortal, of this martial maid. 

By envy basely to her foes betray’d, 

Fire has consum'd ; but, reader, heave no sigh ; 

This heroine’s valiant deeds shall never die. 

30, 1498. Columbus set sail from the port of St. Lucar, 
in Andalusia, Spain, with a squadron of six vessels, on his 
third voyage of discovery. 

— 1574. Charles IX., the infamous assassin of his own 
subjects, died at Vincennes. Tutored by his mother, the 
revengeful Catharine de’Medici, and imbibing her wicked 
' maxims, he became malicious, irritable, profane, and 
bigoted. In the shocking Parisian massacre, he fired from 
a balcony on his own Protestant subjects, and afterwards 
asked some of his abandoned courtiers, with an air of 
exultation, “ if he had not played bis part well.” Soon 
after, shame and remorse succeeded to rage; and con¬ 
science, with its tremendous voice. 


* Te Deum is a kind of hymn, or song of thanksgiving, used 
in the church ; beginning with the words Te Deum, laudumus, 
We praise thee , 0 God. It is generally supposed to be the com¬ 
position of Augustin and Ambrose, and is sung in the Romish 
church with extraordinary pomp and solemnity on some happy 
event, such as the gainiug of a battle in which 15 or 20,000 
human beings had been cut to pieces in one place ; an entire 
garrison put to the sword in another; when here, the savage 
forces of a barbarous despot had made very dreadful carnage ; 
when there, a most glorious slaughter ensued ; when, in a word, 
appropriations, confiscations, exterminations, delacerations, fa¬ 
mine, despair, death, and agonizing sounds, have pervaded a 
devoted country. 



MAY. 


203 


“ Which startles kings, and frights them on the throne,” 

preying on his spirits, his strength decayed, and lingering 
less than two years after the massacre, he died in the 25th 
year of his age, after a reign of 14 years. See Aritfi. 
Quest. No. 101. 

30, 1640. Expired, at Antwerp, Sir Peter Paul Rubens, 
the most eminent of the Flemish school* of painters, 
born in 15/7; but whether at Antwerp or Cologne, it is 
not easy to determine. He is allowed to have carried the 
art of colouring to its highest pitch; giving to his figures 
the utmost harmony, and a prominence resembling real 
life. He particularly excelled in allegorical and emble¬ 
matical compositions; and of all his numerous works, the 
paintings in the palace of Luxemburg, at Paris, it is said, 
best display his genius and his style. He painted some of 
the apartments in Whitehall, for Charles I., by whom he 
was created a knight; an honour which had been pre¬ 
viously conferred on him by the king of Spain : he more¬ 
over negociated a peace between these monarchs. Pos¬ 
sessing all the ornaments and advantages that render a 
man worthy to be esteemed or courted, Rubens was always 
treated as a person of consequence. His figure was noble, 
his manners engaging, his conversation lively, and his 
learning universal; he spoke several languages perfectly, 
and was an excellent statesman. 

— 1654. Christina, Queen of Sweden, daughter of 


* A school, in the fine arts, denominates a class of artists who 
have learned their art from a certain master, either by receiving 
his instructions, or by studying his works; and who of conse¬ 
quence discover more or less of his manner, from the desire of 
imitation, or from the habit of adopting his principles. All the 
paiuters which Europe has produced since the renovation of the 
arts, are classed under the following schools : the school of Flo¬ 
rence, of Rome, of Venice; the Lombardf school, the French, 
the German, the Flemish, the Dutch, and the English school. Of 
this last, Sir Joshua Reynolds is acknowledged as its great foun¬ 
der, in the establishment of the Royal Academy in 1768, under 
the auspices of the king. See June 4, 1776. The founders, &c., 
of the other schools may be seen in the Ency. Brit. art. Painting; 
or in a useful and entertaining work, entitled, “ A Dictionary of 
Paiuters,” &c., &c. 


♦ Lombardy formerly comprehended a considerable part of the 
north, and has been termed the garden, of Italy. 




204 


MAY. 


Gustavus Adolphus, whom she succeeded in 1633, re¬ 
signed her crown, and the government of that kingdom, 
at Upsal. Upon her abdication, she caused a medal to 
be struck, with this legend, “Parnassus is worth more 
than a throne.” She was a woman of considerable learn¬ 
ing, and the generous patroness of learned men. Her 
death happened at Rome, in 1689, on the 19th of'April, 
in the 63d year of her age. 

30, 1665. Origin of Literary Journals. On this day 
Dennis de Sallo, ecclesiastical counsellor in the parlia¬ 
ment of Paris, published the first number of his “ Journal 
des Sqavans a work which met with so favourable a 
reception, that it was not only soon imitated throughout 
Europe, but the author had the satisfaction of having, at 
the same time, his own Journal translated into various 
languages. This was the origin of the present numerous 
Literary Journals,f from whose valuable pages may be 
acquired a rich fund of critical observation, delicacy of 
taste, refinement of judgment, and general information : 
there 

-Th’ unlearn’d their wants may view; 

The learn’d reflect on what before they knew. 

Horace, by Pope. 

Every friend to the dissemination of knowledge must, 
therefore, wish for an universal diffusion of Reviews. 
“ I cheerfully acknowledge,” says the learned and in¬ 
genious Dr. Lettsom, “ that the perusal of their pages 
has afforded me more general information than any other 
volumes within the compass of my reading.” 

— 1744. Expired, at Twickenham, Alexander Pope, 
one of the first in rank among the English poets, for the 
distinguished harmony of his numbers, and for the clear¬ 
ness and splendour of his diction. His poems and trans¬ 
lations are too well known to require particular mention ; 
his prose writings are little less harmonious than his 
verse, and his voice in common conversation was so natu¬ 
rally musical, that Southern used to call him the Little 


* The late King spoke of this publication to Dr. Johnson, in 
the private interview with which lie was honoured by his Ma¬ 
jesty in the library at the Queen’s house, in the month of Febru¬ 
ary, 1767. See BosioeWs Life of Johnson, Vol. I. pp. 291, &c 
4to edit. 1791. 

t See Curiosities of Literature, Vo!. I. p. 95, 2d edit. 




MAY. 


205 


Nightingale. Let it be remembered by my young read¬ 
ers, that Filial Piety was a most distinguished trait in 
the character of this very celebrated writer.* 

Pope’s filial piety excels 

Whatever Grecian story tells. Swift. 

Me let the tender office long engage, 

To rock the cradle of declining age, 

Explore the thought, explain the asking eye, 

And keep awhile a parent from the sky. 

So sang Pope himself with a filial enthusiasm for which 
he will be ever honoured, as his actions corresponded 
with his words ; it having been one of the greatest plea¬ 
sures of his life to promote the happiness of his aged 
mother; and surely, to a generous temper, nothing can be 
more delightful than to sooth the declining years of 
those by whom our infant days were sustained, our feeble 
childhood supported, and our giddy youth moderated and 
directed! f 

Pope was born in London, in 1G88; died and was in¬ 
terred at Twickenham, a village in Middlesex, on the 
banks of the Thames, where he had resided many years : 
hence he is sometimes styled, “ The Bard of Twicken¬ 
ham 

We have noticed in the Arith. Quest, several places that 
have been endeared to cultivated minds, in consequence 
of their having been the birth-place or residence of 
genius : among these was Pope’s villa at Twickenham, 
which was long the delight of every person of taste. 

Ciel! avec quel transport j’ai visits ce lieu 

Dout Mendip est le maitre, et dont Poee est le dieu ! 

Abbe de Lille, Jardins, nr. 

Our young readers will learn with regret, that in the 
present most polished and enlightened century, in less 


* See Bacon and Biddle, Index. 

t It may be worthy of remark, that one of Pope’s most parti¬ 
cular friends, the very learned Bishop Warburton, was, like him¬ 
self, exemplary in his attentions to his mother. In a collection 
of “ Letters to and from Dr. Doddridge,” may be seen some ad¬ 
dressed to that great and good man, by the bishop, in which lie 
describes himself as passing the evenings with his aged mother, 
in perusing the Family Expositor: a simple but impressive scene 
of great dignity and beauty. See Doddridge and Warburton, 
Index. 




206 


MAY. 


than sixty years after Pope’s death, at a time when his 
works were in the hands of every child, and had been 
translated into every language, his house was levelled with 
the ground, his grotto defaced, the trees planted by his 
own hand rooted up, and his whole retreat, the seat of 
genius and the British muse, ravaged and stripped of the 
very ornaments which endeared them to the public, be. 
cause they were the creation of the poet’s fancy, and still 
seemed to bear the impression of his mind. Houses and 
gardens and grottos (as an elegant writer observes) are, it 
is true, the most perishable of monuments; yet the longer 
even these frail memorials are preserved, the better : the 
attention paid to their conservation is a tribute to genius, 
and an honourable proof of the prevalence of taste and 
information in a country. 

30, 1778. Expired, at the age of eighty-five, the celebrated 
Voltaire, who, as a man of letters, will stand in the first 
rank with posterity, for brilliancy of imagination, for 
astonishing ease, exquisite taste, versatility of talents, and 
extent of knowledge ; but whose memory will be held in 
detestation by the wise and good, on account of his un¬ 
disguised impiety, and the indecent and rancorous witti¬ 
cisms which he constantly emitted against the Holy 
Scriptures. His last moments were, like those of the 
generality of impenitent scoffers at the Bible,* embittered 
bv rage, remorse, self-reproach, and blasphemy ! These 
circumstances in the character of this arch-infidel, are al¬ 
luded to by the pious Covvper in the subsequent lines : 

The Frenchman first in literary fame, 

(Mention him if you please— Voltaire ?—the same,) 

With spirit, genius, eloquence supplied, 

Liv’d long, wrote much, laugh’d heartily, and died ; 

The Scripture was his jest-book, whence he drew 
Hon -mots to gall the Christian and the Jetc. 

An infidel in health : but what when sick ? 

Oh then a text would touch him at the quick. 

Reflecting on Voltaire’s and similar deaths, who can 
refrain from exclaiming, “ Let me die the death of the 
righteous, and let my last end be like his” ? Numb, xxiii. 
10. “ Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for 

the end of that man is peuce. ”f Psalm xxxvii. 37. 


* See Simpson's Plea for Religion ,»&c., pp. 8, &c., 2d edit. 

f See Addison, Locke, Boerhaave, Cruden, Jones (Sir William), 
Porteus, Price, and Priestley, Index; and for a host of others, 




MAY. 


20 / 


Voltaire was born at Chatenai, near Paris, lived many 
years in the latter part of his life at Ferney,* * died at his 
native place, and was buried at Sellices, a Benedictine 
abbey between Nogent and Troyes, but was afterwards 
removed to the Pantheon, now St. Genevieve, at Paris. 

31, 1520. Henry VIII. embarked at Dover, in Kent, to 
meet Francis I. of France, at Ardres, a small town near 
Calais, in France. The nobility of both kingdoms here 
displayed their magnificence with such emulation and 
profuse expense, as procured to tha place of interview 
(an open plain) the name of The Field of the Cloth of 
Gold. Many of the kings’ attendants involved themselves 
in great debts on this occasion, and were not able, by the 
penury of their whole lives, to repair the vain splendour 
of a few days!! A painting of the embarkation, and 
another of the interview, which happened on the 4th of 
June, are in Windsor Castle. 

— 1533. The beauteous Anne Boleyn was crowned with 
the greatest magnificence. See a curious account of the 
procession in the Antiquarian Repertory . Vol. III. p. 202; 
and May 19, 1536. 

— 1740. Frederick William I., King of Prussia, ex- 


many of whom were the ornameuts of human nature, whether we 
consider the wide range of their abilities, the great extent of 
their learning and knowledge, or the piety, integrity, and bene¬ 
ficence of their lives. See Simpson’s Plea. 

* Ferney is a village in France, situated on the borders of 
Switzerland, within a league of Geneva. Voltaire is often styled, 
“The Philosopher of Ferney,” and “The Sage of Ferney.” Emi¬ 
nent literary characters, and other distinguished personages, are 
frequently designated by allusive epithets : as, The Bard of Tyne 
—of Twickenham—of Amwell—of Olney—of Cona—of Avon. 
The Poet of Cremona; the Mantuan Swan, or Swain; Night’s 
Seraphic Poet; the Poet of Auburn ; Pomona’s Bard; the The¬ 
ban Swan; the Theban Hero; the Theban Pair; the Syuopian 
Cynic; the Samian Sage; the Sage of Syracuse ; the Stagirite; 
the Gargettian, or Garden Philosopher; the Attic Bee; the Laugh¬ 
ing and Crying Philosophers; the Father of History; the Father 
of Poetry; the Tuneful Teian ; the English Roscius ; the Bonner 
of Scotland ; the British Plutarch ; the British Apelles : the Abys¬ 
sinian Traveller; the Punic Chief; the Vicar of Bray ; the Lich¬ 
field Moralist ; London’s Generous Mayor; Marseilles’ Good 
Bishop ; the Man of Ross; the Patriot of the World ; the Ayr¬ 
shire Ploughman, &c., &c. 



208 


MAY. 


pired at Berlin. He was the father of Frederick the 
Great, whom he treated with great harshness, on account 
of his love of letters, as he feared that his taste for music 
and poetry would draw off his attention from those studies 
which were necessary to make him a warlike king. He 
despised both philosophers and poets; and on his son’s 
attempting, in 1730, to leave the kingdom clandestinely, 
that he might enjoy the society of literary men and im¬ 
prove himself by travelling, he incarcerated him in the 
castle of Custrin, on the Oder, Germany. See Bourn’s 
Gazetteer. 

Frederick William was more anxious to govern his own 
kingdom properly than to encroach on his neighbours’ 
dominions. He was cautious in his engagements, true to 
his promises, austere in his manners, avaricious of money, 
and a rigorous disciplinarian. He was feared and de¬ 
tested, as well as esteemed, both in his family and in his 
kingdom. 

31, 1826. Died Monsieur Da Coster, who was the favour¬ 
ite conductor of visitors of the field of Waterloo, where 
Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington. 


( 209 ) 


JUNE. 

“ Now genial suns and gentle breezes reign, 

And summer’s fairest splendours deck the plain ; 

Exulting Flora* views her new-born rose,f 
And all the ground with short liv’d beauty glows.’’ 

June, the sixth month from January, had its name from 
the Latin Junius , which some derive h Junone (from Juno). 
Ovid, in his Fasti, introduces that Goddess as claiming the 
month. 

June from Juno’s name is surely made. 


* Flora was the goddess of flowers and gardens among the 
Homans, the same as the Chloris of the Greeks; she is repre¬ 
sented by artists as crowned with flowers, and holding in her 
hand the horn of plenty. Games, entitled Floralia, were insti¬ 
tuted at Rome in honour of Flora, about the age of Romulus ; 
they were observed annually, and exhibited a scene of unbounded 
licentiousness. See April 28. 

'f' This beautiful and fragrant flower has not been more highly 
celebrated by the poets in modern times, than by those of anti¬ 
quity. The ancients were, indeed, particularly fond of the rose, 
which they considered as the favourite of the Spring, and one of 
the most delicious ornaments of that gay season : the tender 
Sappho styles it “ The pride of plants, the queen of flowers 
and Anacreon is lavish in its praise. The following lines are part 
of his fifth ode, as translated by Fawkes : 

Hail, lovely rose ! to thee I sing, 

Thou sweetest daughter of the Spring ; 

All mortals prize thy beauties bright; 

In thee the pow’rs above delight. 

The roses of Damascus, in Syria, and those of Sharon, were 
held in high estimation. See Arith. Quest, art. Damascus, and 
Cant. ii. 1. There are two or three districts of Palestine known 
by the name of Saron or Sharon, an epithet which was almost 
proverbial, to express a place of extraordinary beauty and fruit¬ 
fulness. See Isaiah xxxiii. 9, xxxv. 2, lxv. 10 ; and 1 Chron. 
xxvii. 29. One of the valleys or plains so denominated was situ¬ 
ated between Mount Tabor and the Sea of Tiberias ; and another 
was near Lydda, and extended from Caesarea to Joppa. In this 
last there were many villages whose inhabitants embraced the 
gospel. See Acts ix. 35. Modern travellers give the name of 
Sharon to a plain adjacent to Tyre and Ptolemais. See the au¬ 
thor’s Scripture Mapjs. 




210 


JUNE. 


Others rather derive it h junioribus, (from young 1 people,) 
this being for young persons, as the month of May was for 
old. 

And from the junior people June we say. 

The elders May, and June the younger claim. 

June is drawn by artists in a mantle of dark .green. 
This is the pleasing season when, as Thomson happily ex¬ 
presses it, 

Heaven descends 

Tn universal bounty, shedding herbs, 

And fruits, and flowers, on Nature’s ample lap. 

REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, 1666. Began a most memorable naval engagement be¬ 
tween the English and Dutch; which was fought for four 
days with such desperate courage and obstinacy, that nei¬ 
ther side had much reason to triumph, being both forced 
to retire to their respective harbours to refit. The En¬ 
glish, who first retreated, lost only nine ships, the Dutch 
fifteen. The latter were commanded by De Ruyter and 
the younger Van Tromp;* the former by the duke of 
Albemarle and Prince Rupert. De Witt,f who was on 
board the Dutch fleet, is said, on this occasion, to have 
invented chain-shot, which did great damage to the rigging 
of the English ships; but others say it had been used be¬ 
fore. A fine picture of this battle, by Vandervelde, is in 
the Stafford Gallery. 

— 1794. Howe’s Victory. Lord HoweJ obtained a 
most splendid victory over the French fleet, commanded 
by Villaret-Joyeuse, in the Atlantic Ocean, nearly 1,000 
miles from the N. W. coast of France; long, about 15^ 
W., lat. 47| N. This was the first of that series of glori¬ 
ous triumphs which crushed the navy of France during 
the late war. A monument has been erected in St. Paul’s 
Cathedral to perpetuate the fame of Lord Howe. 

— 1803. Expired, Caroline Symmons, an amiable young 
lady and astonishing genius, who displayed, when she was 
only eleven years old, a brilliancy of invention, and a har- 


* Sec August 25, 1653. t See Index. 

+ This nobleman died August 5, 1799, in the seventy-fourth 
year of his age. 



JUNE. 


211 


inony of numbers, “ little less than miraculous,” and who 
may fairly be classed among the prodigies of early genius; 
her meteor-like existence having been marked with sur¬ 
prising coruscations of elegant thought and reflection.* 
She was the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Charles Symmons, 
and died at the premature age of fourteen years, of a 
decline; a disease that has been aptly termed, “ a giant 
malady,” and which often selects for its hapless victims 
the most amiable and most promising part of the com¬ 
munity :f 

Early, bright, transient, chaste as morning dew. 

She sparkled, was exhaled, and went to heaven! 

Young. 

-The wintry blast of Death 

Kills not the buds of virtue !—No, they spread 
Beneath the heav’nly beam of brighter suns, 

Thro' endless ages, into higher powers. 

Thomson. 

2, 1G53. The English, commanded by Monk, defeated the 
Dutch under Van Tromp, taking and destroying twenty 
of their ships, and pursuing the enemy to their own har¬ 
bours. This engagement, which happened off the North 
Foreland, in Kent, lasted two days. See Miscel. Quest, 
in Eng-. Hist. 2nd edit. 

— 17B0. Many thousand persons, agreeably to prior notice, 
met in St. George’s Fields to accompany Lord George 
Gordon with a petition to repeal the law of the last session 
in favour of the Roman Catholics. After proceeding to 
the House of Commons, and being informed that their 
petitions were rejected, some of the mob that evening 
destroyed the two Catholic chapels in Duke Street and 
Warwick Street; and, proceeding to Newgate, released 
the prisoners, destroying the keeper’s furniture, and set¬ 
ting fire to the whole. Their work of mischief continued 
nearly a week, when it was suppressed by the military 
being called in to the assistance of the civil power. See 
November, 17^3. 

— 1802. The House of Commons voted a remuneration 
of ten thousand pounds to Dr. Jenner, for his invaluable 


* See a Memoir, interspersed with a few Poetical Productions, 
of the late Caroline Symmons, annexed to a poem, entitled, “ The 
Rising of Ja'irus’ Daughter ; by F. Wrangham.” 

f See White, Kirke ; and Smith, Elizabeth ; Index. 



212 


JUNE. 


discovery of the Vaccine Inoculation ;* which, by saving 
millions of victims from an untimely grave, will prove an 
inestimable blessing to the whole human race. Dr. Jen- 
ner resided many years at his native place, Berkley, in 
Gloucestershire, and died there, in 1823. When the 
names of heroes and conquerors shall have sunk into for¬ 
tunate oblivion, or be only remembered in deep-toned 
curses and execrations, his will be pronounced with grati¬ 
tude by myriads yet unborn, who will revere the tomb 
of Jenner more than the trophied urn of a destroyer of 
millions. 

2, 1811. Christophe,■ f and Marie-Louise, his sable 
consort, were crowned King and Queen of Hayti, with 
great pomp and ceremony. The new monarch ascended 
the throne under the title of Henry the First. Hayti, or 
the French part of St. Domingo, is occupied by the Afri¬ 
can slaves, or their descendants, who formerly tilled its 
soil, under the impulse of the lash, for French masters; 
but who have been some years emancipated from bon¬ 
dage, and are now the proprietors of that very soil for¬ 
merly watered with their blood and tears. Their number 
is estimated at about 600,000, consisting entirely of blacks 
and people of colour. 

3, 1509. Henry VIII. was married to Catharine of Arra- 
gon, at Greenwich. See Jan 6, 1536. 

— 1647. Joyce, by the counsel of Cromwell, seized King 
Charles I. at Holdenby, a place 6 miles from Northamp¬ 
ton, and conducted him to the army, then at variance with 
the Parliament. 

— 1665. The English fleet, commanded by the Duke of 
York, was victorious over the Dutch off Harwich and 
Lowestoff, taking eighteen ships, and destroying fourteen 
more. Admiral Opdam and his whole crew were blown 
up. The English lost only one ship, but several persons 
of rank were killed in this action. Vandervelde, the noted 
painter, was present, and sailed about in a skiff' to make a 
painting of the engagement. 

— 1769. Transit of Venus. In consequence of a me¬ 
morial which the Royal Society presented to the king in 
1768, setting forth the advantages that would be derived 
to science, if an accurate observation of the approaching 


* An additional sum of twenty thousand pounds was voted to 
Dr. Jenner by Parliament, in 1807. 

f For Christophe’s death, see Oct. 8, 1821. 






JUNE. 


213 


transit of Venus over the sun were taken in the South 
Sea, a vessel, called “ The Endeavour,” was prepared for 
that purpose, and the command of her given to Lieu¬ 
tenant James Cook. The ship sailed in July, 1768, 
touched at Madeira and Rio de Janeiro, doubled Cape 
Horn, and, after a prosperous voyage, reached Ota- 
heite,* the place of destination, in April, 1/69. 

By a comparison of the observations made on this 
transit, from the various parts of the globe, on which it 
was viewed by men of science, the system of the universe 
has, in some particulars, been better understood ; the dis¬ 
tance of the sun from the earth, as calculated by this, 
and the transit in 1/61, is now settled at 108,000,000 
miles instead of the commonly received computation of 
95,000,000. See Horrox, Index. 

The grand object of the voyage having been accom¬ 
plished, Mr. Cook circumnavigated the globe, touching 
in his course at New Zealand, New Holland, Batavia, the 
Cape of Good Hope, and St, Helena; and in June, 177L 
he arrived in the Downs, after experiencing many disas¬ 
trous events. See Cook, Index; and slrith. Quest. 

3, 1789. Expired, Paul Egede, author of an “Account of 
Greenland,” and celebrated for his zeal for the conversion 
of the natives of that island to Christianity. See Ecver. 
on the Globes , art. Cetus. 

4, 1453. Was beheaded, at Valladolid, with all possible 
ignominy, Alvares de Luna, the favourite of John II., 
king of Castile, in Spain, over whom he had assumed, 
and for thirty years maintained, an absolute ascendancy, 
so that nothing could be done without his express orders; 
nay, it is even said, that the king himself could not change 
an officer or a servant, or even his clothes or diet, without 
the approbation of Alvares. He was born in 1388. 

— 1738. Gave birth to his late Majesty, George III. He 
was the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales,f and 
grandson of George II., whom he succeeded on the throne, 
October 25, 1760. He was born at Norfolk House, the 
noble residence of the Duke of Norfolk, in St. James’s 
Square. 


* This is one of a group of six islands, to which, on account 
of their contiguity, Cook gave the name of Society Islands. They 
are situated in about 150 degrees of W, long, and about 16 degrees 
of S. latitude. 

f Sec March 20, 1751. 




214 


JUNE. 


4, 1776 . Was laid the first stone of the present magnifi¬ 
cent building, Somerset House, in the Strand, London. 
See January 22, 1552. Here the Royal Society* and the 
Society of Antiquaries f hold their meetings. Here also 
are annually exhibited the performances of the members 
of the Royal Academy. It contains moreover the Navy 
Office, Stamp Office, and several others belonging to Go¬ 
vernment. 

The Royal Academy of Arts was instituted in London 
for the encouragement of designing, painting, sculpture, 
&c., in the year 1768. It is under the immediate patron¬ 
age of the king, and under the direction of forty artists of 
the first rank in their several professions. The admission 
to this academy is free to all students, properly qualified 
to reap advantage from the studies cultivated in it; and 
there is an annual exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and 
designs, open to all artists of distinguished merit. The 
members affix to their names the letters R. A., i. e. Royal 
Academician. 

— 1802. Charles Emanuel, King of Sardinia, volun¬ 
tarily abdicated his throne in favour of his brother, the 
Duke D’Aost, who succeeded to the crown and dominions, 
under the name Victor Emanuel, or Emanuel V. Charles 
Emanuel died in 1811, and Victor Emanuel in 1821, and 
was succeeded by Charles Felix. See A nth. Tables, 
p. 30. 

5, 754. Boniface was killed by the Pagans, in East Fries¬ 
land, in the United Provinces. The saint, as he is gene¬ 
rally termed, who, before he took the name of Boniface, 


* See April 22, 1663. 

t A Society of Antiquaries existed in the reign of Elizabeth ; 
but they were not incorporated by charter till the year 1751. 
This society is, at present, in a flourishing condition, consisting 
of many learned and ingenious men, of the nobility, gentry, 
clergy, and others, whose business, as members, is to discover the 
antiquities, or ancieut things, of their own, as well as those of 
other nations. 

With sharpen’d sight pale Antiquaries pore, 

Th’ inscription value, but the rust adore. 

Pope. 

This society began to publish its discoveries, &c., in 1770, under 
the title of Archjeologia ; i. e. Discourses of Antiquity. The 
members affix to their name the letters F. A. S., which mean, 
Fellow of the Antiquarian Society. 





JUNE. 


215 


was called Winifred, was born at Crediton, in Devon- 
shire. He adopted the life of a missionary to disseminate 
the gospel among the barbarous nations; and though he 
was created archbishop of Mentz, in Germany, he soon 
after resigned his office, and became an itinerant preacher 
in the country, where, as above stated, he was murdered 
by the ungrateful inhabitants. He obtained the appella¬ 
tion of the Apostle of the Germans. 

5, 1316. Louis X., styled Hutin, or the Quarrelsome, 
without sufficient reason for this title, died at Vincennes, 
after a short reign of 19 months. His death by some his¬ 
torians is imputed to poison, by others to drinking cold 
water, or retiring to a damp grotto when excessively hot. 

6, 1487- Lambert Simnel, an impostor in the reign of 
Henry VII., was taken prisoner in the battle of Stoke, 
near Newark, in Nottinghamshire. See Miscel. Quest. 
and Bourn’s Gaz. 

— 16/5. Was born, at Dijon,* that eminent philanthro¬ 
pist Languet, who holds a high rank among those wor¬ 
thies whom Providence mercifully raises up for the relief 
of the indigent and the solace of the wretched, for the 
good of society, and for the glory of nations.f 

— 1762. Died, at Moor Park, near Rickmansworth, in 
Herts, George Lord Anson, who signalized himself by 
his voyage round the globe, and whose merits as a naval 
commander raised him to the peerage. He was born at 
Shuckborough, an ancient seat of the Ansons, near Col- 
wick, in Staffordshire, A. D. 1700. See Arith. Quest. 

— 1780. In the evening of this day the house of Lord 
Mansfield, in Bloomsbury Square, was burnt to the 
ground, with his fine library, manuscripts, and other in¬ 
valuable effects, by the savage fury of a brutal mob. 
When the sufferers by those dreadful riots were to be re¬ 
imbursed by the public, his Lordship, in conjunction with 
the late great and good Sir George Saville, nobly refused 
any compensation whatever. See March 20, 1793. 

7, 1329. Robert Bruce, “ the Avenger of his Country’s 
wrongs,” died at Cardross, in Dumbartonshire, after a 
reign of 23 years. See Cardross and Theba, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer , and December 30, 1774. 


* Dijon is a large city, now in the department of Cote d'Or, 
seated in a delightful plain, which produces excellent wine. It 
gave birth also to Crebillon, Bossuet, and Rameau. 

f See Arith. Quest, art. Languet, Plague, and English Charity. 




216 


JUNE. 


7, 1566. The foundation of the first Royal Exchange 
was laid by Sir Thomas Gresham. The model was taken 
from the Exchange at Antwerp, in the Netherlands, at 
that time one of the most commercial towns in Europe. 
See October 23, 1667; Arith. Quest, and Miscell. Quest, 
in Eng. Hist. 

— 1758. Died, Allan Ramsay, a Scotch poet, born in 
1686, at Leadhills, in the parish of Crawford, Lanark¬ 
shire. He was originally a barber at Edinburgh; but 
possessing a strong genius, he devoted himself to the 
muses. His “ Gentle Shepherd,” a pastoral comedy, is 
universally admired for its elegance and simplicity. See 
Burns, Index ; and Huckaback, Arith. Quest. 

— 1779. Died, at his episcopal palace, in the eighty-first 
year of his age, William Warburton, bishop of Glou¬ 
cester, a prelate of sublime genius and profound learning, 
born at Newark-upon-Trent, in Nottinghamshire. This 
“ literary phenomenon,” as he is often styled, was the 
author of several valuable works; but his supercilious 
treatment of controversial adversaries often made his 
readers his enemies, and excited against the advocate the 
wish of some who favoured the cause. The following 
observation in one of the bishop’s letters to Dr. Doddridge 
merits the attention of our young readers: “To be al¬ 
ways lamenting the miseries of life, or always seeking 
after the pleasures of it, equally takes us off from the work 
of our salvation. And though I am extremely cautious 
what sect I follow in religion, yet any in philosophy will 
serve my turn, and honest Sancho Panza’s is as good as 
any; who, on his return from an important commission, 
when asked by his master whether he should mark the 
day with a white or a black stone,* replied, ‘ Faith, Sir, 


* Alluding to the Latin terms dies faustus, a lucky day , and 
dies infaustus, an unlucky day; these being marked by the super¬ 
stitious Romans, the former with a white, and the latter with a 
black stone. In our own ancient almanacks the unlucky days were 
distinguished by a mark of reprobation; a custom to which Shaks- 
peare alludes in Macbeth: 

Let this pernicious hour 
Stand aye accursed in the calendar. 

Black and white stones were also used in popular judicatures, 
or in elections: the custom being to give the votes in either of 
these by such stones ; the former being a token of condemnation 
or rejection, and the latter of absolution or approbation. A white 



JUNE. 


217 

if you will be ruled by me, with neither, but with good 
brown ochre!' What this philosopher thought of his 
commission, I think of human life in general, good brown 
ochre is the complexion of it.” See May 30, 1744.— 
** The web of our life,” says Shakspeare, “ is of a min¬ 
gled yarn, good and ill together.” (See Ewer, on the 
Globes, art. Urater.) And Dean Kinvan has well ob¬ 
served, “ that the happiness which is attainable in this 
life, must ever be of the mixed kind ” See Oct. 27, 1805. 

7, 1761. Was born at Preston-Ivirk, in East Lothian, Scot¬ 
land, John Rennie, Esq., an eminent civil engineer. His 
principal works are the Breakwater at Plymouth, Rams¬ 
gate Harbour, the London Docks, the Bell-Rock-Light- 
House at the mouth .of the Tay, and Waterloo and South¬ 
wark Bridges; the two most beautiful bridges that adorn 
the British metropolis.—This distinguished and highly use¬ 
ful ornament of society died in October, 1821, and was 
interred with funeral solemnity in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

8, 1376. Edward, the celebrated Black Prince, died at 
Westminster, universally regretted, in the forty-sixth year 
of his age ; leaving a character illustrious for every emi¬ 
nent virtue, and from his earliest youth till the hour he 
expired, unstained by any considerable blemish. His royal 
father was inconsolable for the loss of his amiable son, 
who was interred in Canterbury Cathedral. 

Like other tyrants, Death delights to smite 
What, smitten, most proclaims the pride of power 
And arbitrary nod. His joy supreme 
To bid the wretch survive the fortunate ; 

The feeble wrap th’ athletic in his shroud ; 

And weeping fathers build their children’s tomb.* 

Young. 

9, The festival of Vesta, called Vestalia, was celebrated. 
See March 29, 1807, and Exercises on the Globes , art. Vesta. 

— 1705. Was born at Richmond, in Yorkshire, Francis 
Blackburne, Archdeacon of Cleveland, distinguished 
for his zeal, industry, and acuteness, in pleading the cause 


stone was moreover gwen, with his name and the value of the 
prize, to the victor in the Agonistical games. To this custom 
there is an allusion, Rev. ii. 17. See Burder’s Oriental Customs , 
and Doddridge’s Fam. Expos. 

It may, perhaps, be necessary to inform our young readers, that 
Saneho Rauza is a character in Don Quixote. See April 23,1616; 
and Arith. Quest, art. Spanish Wines. 

» See March 13, 1791, June 1, 1803, and July 31, 1C02. 

L 



218 


JUNE. 


of ecclesiastical reform. Few works, it is generally said, 
display more ability and ingenuity than that to which he 
principally owes his celebrity, “ The Confessional”— 
a performance which, it is asserted, has never yet received 
a satisfactory answer. This venerable divine died in the 
summer of 1787, in the eighty-third year of his age, con- 
' tentedly closing the long scene of a studious, regular, and 
religious life, with the sentiment of the amiable Erasmus, 
and the benevolent Jortin, “ I have had enough of every 
thing in this world.” His Works and Life were published 
by his son. 

9, 1760. Expired, at Hernliut, Count Zinzendorf, a 
German, and chief of the religious sect called Hernhu- 
ters,* which he introduced into England by the title of 
Moravians,f where several congregations of them still re¬ 
main. One of their places of worship is in Fetter Lane, 
London. 

— 1788. The Association for promoting the discovery 
of the interior regions of Africa was formed ; and this so¬ 
ciety has since been so fortunate in collecting geographical 
information, as to leave little doubt but that, in a few 
years, all the great features of this continent (within the 
reach of their inquiries) will be so well known and de¬ 
scribed, that the following sarcastic lines by Swift, on the 
nakedness of the land, and the absurdity of its map- 
makers, will soon lose their force : 

Geographers, in Afric maps, 

With savage pictures fill their gaps, 

And o’er unhabitable downs, 

Place elephants, for want of towns. 

The eighteenth century, indeed, smiled propitiously on 
the science of geography throughout the globe; and an 
Englishman may be allowed to pride himself, that his 
countrymen have had their full share of the glory attend¬ 
ing this, and other researches calculated to increase the gene¬ 
ral stock of knowledge. See Arith. Quest, art. Century. 

— 1825. Died at his house in Artillery Place, Finsbury 
Square, Dr. Abraham Rees, author of the New Cyclo¬ 
paedia, in 45 vols., in which work he received the assist¬ 
ance of many able coadjutors, of whom he has made ho- 


* From a village of that name, on the estate of Count Zinzen¬ 
dorf, in Upper Lusatia, Germany. See Bouhn’s Gazetteer. 

f Moravia is a district east of Bohemia, in Germany. The 
Moravians are also called United Brethren. See Geo. Exer. on 
the New Testament. 



JUNE. 


219 


nourable mention in the preface to this valuable work. 
He was a Protestant Dissenter on deliberate and rational 
conviction, and was ever the firm and zealous friend of 
religious liberty. See Jan. 1, 1802. 

10, 1190. Frederick, called Barbarossa, Emperor of 
Germany, was drowned in the river Cydnus, now Carasu, 
Caramania, Asia. He had, though in the 69th year of his 
age, engaged in a crusade with Richard of England and 
Philip Augustus of France. He was eloquent, had a te¬ 
nacious memory, and his moral character was unble¬ 
mished, though his motto, or common saying, “ Qui 
nescit dissimulare nescit regnare”— He who knows not 
hoic to dissemble knows not how to reign, implies, that de¬ 
ception by him was considered no crime. 

— 1667. The Dutch, under the command of De Ruyter 
and Van Gaunt, sailed up the river Medway as far as 
Upnor-Castle, near Chatham, and burnt several of our 
men of war. They afterwards appeared, for some time, 
the undisputed masters of the ocean, filled our coasts with 
alarm and confusion, and even struck terror and conster¬ 
nation into the capital itself. Thus did the ill-timed fru¬ 
gality of Charles II. in necessary expenses expose En¬ 
gland to one of the greatest affronts which it had ever re¬ 
ceived; whilst immense sums were squandered away in 
his illicit pleasures, or given to his worthless and depraved 
minions. See Miscell. Quest, in English Hist. 3rd edit. 

— 1735. Expired, aged fifty-seven years, Thomas Hearne, 
a celebrated antiquary, eminent for his writings and edi¬ 
tions of MSS. He was born at Little Waltham, a village 
nearly midway between Reading and Maidenhead, in 
Berks ; and even from a boy discovered a strong propen¬ 
sity to the study of antiquity. He did great services to 
the Bodleian library at Oxford, and was buried at St. 
Peter’s in the East, in that city. He wrote at the bottom 
of his will the 7th verse of the 32d chapter of Dent., and 
the 8th, 9th, and 10th verses of the 8th chapter of Job. 

11, St. Barnabas’s Day, a Christian festival. St. Barnabas 
was born in Cyprus Island, and descended of the tribe of 
Levi, whose Jewish ancestors are thought to have retired 
thither to secure themselves from violence during the 
troublesome times in Judea. His proper name was Joses; 
to which, after his conversion to Christianity, the apostles 
added that of Barnabas , signifying either the son of pro¬ 
phecy, or the son of consolation ; the first respecting his 
eminent prophetic gifts, the other his great charity in 
selling his estate for the comfort and relief of the poor 


220 


JUNE. 


Christians.* He was educated at Jerusalem, under the 
great Jewish doctor Gamaliel; a circumstance that might 
probably lay the foundation of that intimate friendship 
which was afterwards contracted between this apostle and 
St. Paul, with whom he united in preaching the Gospel, 
in different parts, for nearly the space of fourteen years. 
The time of his conversion is uncertain ; but he is gene¬ 
rally esteemed one of the seventy disciples chosen by our 
Saviour himself. 

At Antioch, Paul and Barnabas had a contest, which 
ended in their separation : but what followed it with re¬ 
spect to Barnabas, is not related in the Acts of the Apos¬ 
tles. Some say, that he went into Italy, and founded a 
church at Milan; others assert, that he spent the remain¬ 
der of his life in his native country, Cyprus ; subjoining, 
that he suffered martyrdom at Salamis, in that island; 
some Jews from Syria attacking him as he was discours¬ 
ing in the synagogue, and stoning him to death. He was 
buried by his kinsman, Mark, whom he had taken with 
him, in a cave near that city. See Geo. Exer. on the New 
Testament, art. Barnabas. 

11, 1184 B. C. Troy was taken by the Greeks, after a siege 
of ten years. See Arith. Quest., and Ewer, on the New 
Test. art. Troas. 

— 1488 A. D. James III. of Scotland was murdered near 
Kvlsithe or Bannockburn, in the 29th year of his reign 
and 86th of his age. He was a weak prince, and suffered 
himself to be imposed upon by wicked courtiers and 
artful astrologers and fortune-tellers, which excited the 
contempt of a turbulent aristocracy, that rebelled against 
him. 

— 15/6. Died at Gidea Hall or Giddy Hall, near Rum- 
ford, Essex, Sir Anthony Cooke, preceptor to Ed¬ 
ward VI. He was no less distinguished for his learning 
than for his goodness and piety. He left four daughters 
eminently learned in the Greek and Latin languages. 
One was married to Sir William Cecil, Baron Burleigh, 
another to Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord-keeper of the Great 
Seal, and a third to John, Lord Russell, son and heir of 
Francis, Earl of Bedford. 

— 1685. The Duke of Monmouth landed at Lyme, on 
the western coast of Dorsetshire, where he published a 
declaration against the king, (James II.,) charging him 
with introducing Popery and arbitrary power. 


* Acts iv. 36. 



JUNE. 


991 

A 

21,1727, 0 S. George I. died in liis carriage a short 
distance from Osnaburgh in Germany, in the sixty-eighth 
year of his age, and the thirteenth of his reign.* His 
body was conveyed to Hanover, and interred among his 
ancestors. He was the first British sovereign of the house 
of Brunswick. See Arith. Tables. 

1 793. Died Dr. William Robertson, principal of 
the University of Edinburgh, and historiographer'!' to his 
majesty, for Scotland. He was born in 1721, and from 
his earliest youth was indefatigable in his exertions to 
render himself eminent in literature; and that he suc¬ 
ceeded, will be acknowledged by the latest posterity. His 
Histories of America, of Scotland, and of Charles V., and 
his Disquisition concerning India, are models of elegant 
composition. Dr. Robertson expired at Grange House, 
in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, universally esteemed 
as a minister of the gospel, as a scholar, and as a man of 
virtue. See October 14, 1601. 

— 1798. Malta, an island strong by nature and by art, 
and called the Key of the Mediterranean, was taken by 
Bonaparte; and in 1800 was captured by the English. 
This island is supposed to be the ancient Melita, where 
the viper fastened on the hand of the apostle Paul, when 
be was wrecked on the coast. It produces corn, cotton, 
honey, figs, melons, and fine oranges. Many of the 
orange-trees bear the red kind of fruit, the juice of which 
is as red as blood, and of a fine flavour. See Geo. Ejcer. 
on the Nevi Test. 

— 1800. Expired, at London, Samuel Ireland, distin¬ 
guished for his “Picturesque Views on the Rivers Thames, 
Medway, Severn, and Avon,” and other elegant and 
esteemed works. 

12, 1381. Wat Tyler, at the head of a mutinous popu¬ 
lace, amounting to 100,000 men, appeared on Black- 
heath. The ostensible object of this insurrection was, 
the abolition of slavery in England, which, with some 
other reasonable requests, they obtained; but on their 
leader being killed, at an interview with the young king 
(Richard II.) in Smithfield, the charters of enfranchise¬ 
ment were revoked by parliament; the low people, as 
Hume observes, were reduced to the same slavish condi- 


* See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Melons. 

f Historiographer; from ta-Topia, history; and ypctcpa, to 
write or describe. Ash’s Dictionary. 



222 


JUNE. 

tion as before, and several of the ringleaders were severely 
punished for the late disorders. See Arith. Quest ., and 
Miscell. Quest in Eng. Hist. 

12, 1/34. The Duke of Berwick, while visiting the 
trenches at the siege of Phijipsburgh, near Spire, in Ger¬ 
many, was killed, standing between his two sons, by a 
cannon-ball. He was the illegitimate son of the Duke 
of York, afterwards James II., whom he accompanied in 
his flight from England, in 1688. His mother was Ara¬ 
bella Churchill, Maid of Honour to the Duchess of York, 
and sister to the renowned Marlborough. The Duke, on 
quitting the country, entered into the service of France, 
and was engaged in several battles against the English or 
their allies in Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and 
Spain. In 1/0/, he gained the battle of Almanza, so 
fatal to the English. See April 14, 1/07- The Duke 
was, at his death, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 
See Almanza, Moulins, and Philipsburgh, Bourn’s Gaz. 

13,1483. Earl Rivers, Lord Gray, Sir Thomas Vaughan, 
and Sir Richard Hawse, were executed, or rather mur¬ 
dered, at Pom fret, or Pontefract, in Yorkshire, by order 
of the Duke of Gloucester, then Protector of England, 
and afterwards Richard III. 

Pomfret, fatal and ominous to noble Peers. 

Lord Hastings was also seized at a Council held the same 
day in the Tower, and instantly beheaded on a timber- 
log. His only crime was his fidelity to the young king, 
Edward V., and his brother, whom Richard caused to be 
murdered in the ensuing month. 

Earl Rivers was uncle to the king, and brother to the 
queen dowager. (See Ludlow, Bourn’s Gazetteer.) Lord 
Gray was the queen’s son by her former husband. It 
has been remarked, that Lord Hastings was beheaded on 
the same day and hour that the above noblemen and gen¬ 
tlemen were decapitated ; to whose death he himself had 
too readily consented. 

— 1625. The Princess Henrietta Maria, youngest 
daughter of Henry IV. of France, landed at Dover, in 
Kent, where she was met by Charles I., and conducted 
the same day to Canterbury, where their marriage was 
solemnized. She was a woman of great beauty and spirit. 

14, 1615. Le Maire and Schouten sailed from the 
Texel, to make discoveries in the south sea. See Eater, 
on the Globes , lltli edit., and Bourn’s Gazetteer art. 
Texel. 


JUNE. 


223 


14, 1645. Was fought the battle of Naseby, a village 12 
miles from Northampton, in Northamptonshire, between 
Charles I. and the Parliament. This well-disputed action 
at length terminated in favour of Fairfax, the Parliament- 
General, who, aided by the uncommon valour and rare 
warlike talents of Cromwell, gained a complete victory. 

— 1785. Mr. Rosier, the first aerial navigator, and his 
companion Romain, ascended in a balloon at Boulogue, 
with an intention of crossing the English Channel; but 
were unfortunately both killed, the balloon having taken 
fire in about 20 minutes after their ascent.* A dreadful 
catastrophe happened to the aerialist Madame Blan¬ 
chard, on the 6th of July, 1819. That lady ascended 
from the Tivoli Gardens, in Paris, at night; and soon 
after her ascent, the balloon took fire, and Madame Blan¬ 
chard was precipitated into the streets in a state too 
shocking for description. This last and unfortunate en¬ 
terprise was her 67th ascent. 

— 1800. Battle of Marengo. In this ever-memo- 
rable engagement between the French and Austrians, 
the latter commanded by Melas, lost in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners 15,000 men. Bonaparte was in the midst 
of this desperate conflict, and the amiable French General 
Desaix was killed in the moment of victory.f It is 
rather a singular coincidence of circumstances, that his 
brave friend. General Kleber, whom he had recently left 
in Egypt, should be assassinated at Grand Cairo, within a 
quarter of an hour of his own death. 

Marengo is a village near Alessandria, in Italy, in about 
45 deg. of N. lat. and 9 deg. of E long. 

— 1807* Battle of Friedland, or Fridland, (a town on 
the left Bank of the Alle, about 30 miles from Konigs- 
berg, in Prussia,) in which Bonaparte defeated the Rus¬ 
sians with great slaughter. This defeat led to the Peace 
of Tilsit. 

15, Commences, in general, the overflowing of the Nile, 
in Africa, upon which the fertility of Egypt depends. 
During the inundation, which is caused by periodical 
rains, the little towns, standing upon eminences, look 
like so many islands; and the inhabitants go from one 


* See 21st of November, 1783, and Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. 
Metz and Wimille. 

f For a brief account of several other heroes who have fallen 
in the moment of victory, see Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. 
Wolfe, General. 



224 


JUNE. 


to the other in boats. When the water withdraws, the 
lands are sown with rice, which delights in watery ground. 

15,1744. Commodore Anson, after his voyage round 
the world, landed at Spithead, a naval station between 
Portsmouth and the isle of Wight, Hants. See Arith. 
Quest. 

— 1768. Died, in his fifty-seventh year, at Newington- 
Butts, near London, James Short, an eminent optician, 
who, by his great skill and ingenuity, united to virtuous 
and amiable manners, though born in obscurity and in¬ 
digence, raised himself into fame, and acquired by his 
profession a fortune of 20,000/. His telescopes,* in par¬ 
ticular, were highly esteemed. For one of these, which 
was finished in the year 1752, for the King of Spain, he 
received 1,200/. This was the noblest instrument of the 
kind that had then been constructed ; and perhaps it has 
never yet been surpassed, except by the astonishing re¬ 
flectors of Dr. Iierscliel.f Mr. Short was a native of 
Edinburgh. 

— 1825. The first stone of the New London Bridge 
was laid by John Garratt, Esq., the Lord Mayor, attended 
by the court of Aldermen, and many persons of distinc¬ 
tion 

16, 1693. Admiral Rooke, with twenty men of war and 
the Turkey fleet under his convoy, was attacked by 
Admiral Tourville, with a force vastly superior to his 
own, off Cape St. Vincent, in Portugal; when twelve 
English and Dutch men of war, and eighty merchant¬ 
men, were taken or destroyed by the French. See Feb. 

14, 1797. 

— 1722. Expired, the celebrated Duke of Marlbo¬ 
rough, one of the most successful generals that, per¬ 
haps, ever appeared in the world. Of him it has been 
said, that he never fought a battle which he did not gain, 
nor besieged a town which he (fid not take ; an eulogium 
which can be pronounced on few other commanders, 
ancient or modern.]; He was born at Ashe, in Devon¬ 
shire, in 1650. His funeral procession, from Marlbo- 


* See Exer. on the Globes, llth edit. 

f See Index, and Exer. an the Globes , art. Herschel. 

X The same was said of Alexander.—Alexander cum nullo hos- 
tium unquam congressus est, quern non vicerit: nuliam inborn 
obsedit, quam non expuguaverit. 



JUNE. 


225 


rough-House* to Westminister-Abbey, was conducted 
with the greatest solemnity and magnificence. He was 
interred at the foot of Henry the Seventh’s tomb. After 
the death of his relict his body was removed and depo¬ 
sited with hers at Blenheim. 

This eminent character degenerated into idiocy some 
time previous to his decease; affording, like Swift, an 
affecting example of the evanescence of human intellect, 
of the vanity of all mortal acquirements ! 

From Marlborough’s eyes the streams of dotage flow. 

And Swift expires a driv’ler and a show. 

Dr. Johnson. 

37, 1271. Prince Edward, afterwards Edward I., was 
wounded with a dagger by an assassin, in the Holy Land. 
The venom was extracted by his Queen, who, by suck¬ 
ing it, effected a cure, that could not be procured by 
medicine. See March 30, 1799, and Exer. on the Globes , 
10th edit. art. Crux. 

■— 1688. Seven Bishops were committed to the Tower 
for presenting a very dutiful, prudent, and loyal petitionf 
to James II., but which that arbitrary bigot termed a 
seditious libel. They were brought to their trial on the 30th 
at Westminster-Hall, and acquitted. No cause was ever 
heard with more zeal and attention ; and when the wislied- 
for verdict. Not Guilty , was pronounced, the intelligence 
was echoed through the hall, was conveyed to crowds 
without, was carried into the city, and was propagated 
with infinite joy throughout the kingdom. The names 
of these seven conscientious worthies are given in the 
late W. Butler’s Mis. Quest . 3d edit. 

— 1696. Died, on the twenty-second anniversary of his 
succession to the throne, the heroic and magnanimous 
John Sobieski, King' of Poland, the most renowned 
warrior of his time; indeed, his victories obtained over 


* Near St. James’s Palace. It was built in Queen Anne’s reign, 
at the expense of the public ; a national compliment which cost 
not less than i?40,000. See Pennant’s London; and Aug. 2, 1704. 

t The petition was directed against a declaration published by 
the King, which suspended and dispensed with the penal laws 
and tests, and even with the oaths of allegiance and supremacy 
on admission into civil or military offices. These measures were 
originally adopted as a guard against the Papists ; the Bishops 
therefore, in praying for their continuance, had in view the se¬ 
curity of the Protestant interest. 

l 3 



2 26 


JUNE. 


the Tartars and Turks procured him the crown: he was 
also an encourager of arts and sciences, and a liberal 
patron of learned men. He was born in 1630. See 
Jones’s History of Poland; also Eocer. on the Globes f 
art. Scutum Sobieski. 

17, 1719. Joseph Addison expired at Holland-House, 
near Kensington. See Sept. 1, 1729. 

“ His faith, in death unshaken, tower’d on high, 

And sliew’d succeeding Christians how to die.”* 

This fine writer and excellent man was interred in the 
Poets’ Corner, in Westminster Abbey, where an elegant 
monument has been erected to him. 

— 1775. Battle of Bunker’s-Hill. On this emi¬ 
nence, which is situated near Boston, a desperate engage¬ 
ment took place between the British troops and the 
Americans ; when the latter were compelled to retreat. 
See Dr. Gordon’s Hist, of the American War. 

— 1791. Expired the venerable Countess of Hunting¬ 
don, memorable for her religious zeal and extensive 
charities. See Arith. Quest. 

18, Idol Juggernaut. Idolatry, says Dr. South, is not 
only an accounting or worshipping that for God which 
is not God, but it is also a worshipping the true God in 
a way unsuitable to his nature; and particularly by the 
mediation of images and corporeal resemblance. 

The idol Juggernaut is worshipped by immense num¬ 
bers, who make a pilgrimage at their various feasts to 
the town of Juggernaut. O 11 the 18th of June, at twelve 
o’clock, the idol is brought forth on a car sixty feet in 
height, amid the acclamations of hundreds of thousands 
of deluded worshippers, who have resorted thither from 
various parts of the British dominions in India; and so 
infatuated are these people, that many of them think it 
an honour to sacrifice themselves to it. Numbers kill 
themselves by falling under the idol’s car; others lay 
themselves flat on their backs for the very purpose of 
being crushed to death by it! See Geo. Eocer. on the 
New Test y art. Paganism. 

Jagarnaut, or Juggernaut is situated in Orissa, a pro¬ 
vince of Hindostan, west of the Bay of Bengal. See 
Bourn’s Gazetteer , 3d edit. 

— 1525. On this day Cardinal Wolsey made the mag¬ 
nificent present of Hampton Court to King Henry 


* See Arith. Quest. 



JUNE. 


227 


VIII. This was, perhaps, the most spendid offering ever 
made by a subject to a sovereign. 

18, 1643. Hampden, the famous English patriot, was 
wounded in Chalgrave-Field, near Oxford. See June 
24, 1643. 

A patriot loves 

His country’s good with a respect more tender, 

More holy and profound, than his own life 

Shakspeare’s Aphorisms. 

— 1723. Francis Atterbury, bishop of Rochester, 
embarked for France on his exile. The prelate was 
accompanied by his son-in-law, Mr. Morrice, and by an 
affectionate daughter. On their arrival at Calais, the 
Bishop met Lord Bolingbroke returning to England, his 
term of banishment having expired; upon which Atter¬ 
bury observed that they were exchanged. The daughter, 
whose filial love prompted her to share the exile of her 
aged parent, died in 1729, at Toulouse, in the south of 
France, of a consumption. The letter of Bishop Atterbury 
to Mr. Pope, in a which he relates the circumstances of 
their last interview, is beautifully pathetic. See Elegant 
Epistles; also Feb. 15, 1732. 

— 1805. Expired, at Knightsbridge, near London, in the 
seventy-eighth year of his age, Arthur Murphy, au¬ 
thor of several dramatic productions, and a translation 
of the great Latin historian Tacitus. As a man of po¬ 
lished manners, he lived respected ; and, as a believer in 
Christianity, he was long, say his friends, resigned to the 
will of his Creator; often repeating from Pope the fol¬ 
lowing lines: 

Half-taught by reason, half by mere decay, 

To welcome death, aud calmly pass away.* 

Mr. Murphy’s father was a merchant in Dublin; but 
his mother was on a visit at Clooniquin, where he was 
born, in 1727* He was some time in a counting-house 


* When youth is flown, death only can assuage, 

And yield a refuge from the ills of age. 

Mimnermus. 

Tired with vain life, we close the willing eye; 

’Tis the great birth-right of mankind to die.f 

Thomson. 


t See April 5, 33. 





228 


JUNE. 


at Cork,, and studied some years at St. Omers, in the 
department of the Straits of Calais. 

18, 1814. Civic Feast. A most superb entertainment 
was given at Guildhall, London, at which were present 
the Prince Regent, now George IV., the late Emperor of 
Russia, and the King of Prussia, with many foreigners 
of distinction.* The procession was uncommonly splendid, 
and the illustrious visitors excited the curiosity of throng¬ 
ing crowds, not only on account of their high rank and 
exalted station, but because they were also the pacificators 
of Europe ! 

—• 1815. Battle of Waterloo. This bloody conflict 
will be ever memorable in English history, as affording 
one of the noblest proofs upon record, of British valour, 
and of the talents of our great national commander, the 
Duke of Wellington, as well as being in its effects 
decisive of a most momentous contest, in which the peace 
of all Europe was at stake. With this battle, which con¬ 
tinued during more than seven hours’ unintermitting fight¬ 
ing, and in which the physical nerve and courage of Bri¬ 
tons performed prodigies not excelled by ancient heroes, 
terminated the power of Bonaparte, who subsequently 
withdrew to Rochefort, on the western coast of Frauce, 
and, after some ineffectual attempts to escape to Ame¬ 
rica, threw himself upon British protection. He was 
shortly after conveyed as a state prisoner to St. Helena, 
a small island in the South Atlantic. 

Waterloo is situated between Nivelles and Brussels, in 
the Netherlands. 

— 1817. Waterloo Bridge, in the Strand, London, 
was opened for the use of the public. This bridge is 
one of the great works executed by the late Mr. Rennie. 
See June 7, 1761- 

— 1827. Sir John Fleming Leicester, Baron de 
Tabley, died, aged 65, at Tabley House, two miles from 
Knutsford, Cheshire He was the greatest patron of the 
native school of painting that our island ever enjoyed, and 
possessed an unrivalled collection of paintings by English 
artists, to which the public, with suitable recommenda¬ 
tion, were generously admitted. 

19. The Greek menologies place the festival of St. Jude, 
and declare that he was shot to death with arrows at 
Arara : probably in Armenia, where are Mount Ararat,f 


* See Arith. Quest, art. Battle of Poictiers. 
t See Arith, Quest. 10th edit. 



JUNE. 


229 


and the city of Ariaratha. The Armenians, by tradition, 
maintained that he suffered martyrdom in their country; 
but the Latin martyrologists inform us, that St. Jude suf¬ 
fered martyrdom, and was buried in Persia. His Epistle 
was written after the death of St. Peter and St. Paul, and 
consequently after A. D. 66 : some date it about the year 
90. 

19, 1215. Magna Charta, the Great Charter of the li¬ 
berties of Britain, and the basis of our excellent laws 
and distinguished privileges, was extorted from the ty¬ 
rannical King John.* It was signed at Runny-Mead, a 
meadow on the banks of the Thames, between Staines 
and Windsor: 

Here was the Charter seal’d, wherein the Crown 
All marks of arbitrary power laid down : 

Tyrant and Slave, those names of hate and fear, 

The happier style of Prince and Subject bear ; 

Happy, when both to the same centre move, 

When Kings give liberty, and Subjects love. 

Denham. 

See Langton and Wraysbury, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

The original copy of this famous Charter, and the ori¬ 
ginal of the articles agreed upon by the barons, prepara¬ 
tory to the signing of the great Charter, are preserved in 
the British Museum. 

— 1566. In a small room on the ground-floor, in the 
south-east corner of the castle at Edinburgh, the unfortu¬ 
nate Mary, Queen of Scotland, was delivered of a prince, 
in whose person the crowns of both kingdoms, of which 
the British island consists, were afterwards united. See 
March 27, 1625. 

— 1820. Expired, at his house in Soho Square, Sir 
Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society. He was 
an eminent philosopher, and visited several regions for 
the purpose of making'researches in natural history. 
He accompanied Captain Cook in his first voyage round 
the world, and afterwards went to Iceland. The fruit 
of these expeditions was a choice and most valuable col¬ 
lection of natural curiosities drawn from the mineral, 
animal, and vegetable kingdoms. This scientific adven¬ 
turer was born in 1743, and was distinguished for his 
high literary attainments. 


* See Arilh, Quest. 



230 


JUNE. 


20, 1483. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was proclaimed 
King*, under the title of Richard III. He was the 
youngest son of Richard, Duke of York, whose preten¬ 
sions to the crown occasioned the war of the Roses. See 
Dec. 31, 1460, and Butler’s Miscell. Quest. Reign of 
Henry VI. 

— 1/43. Commodore Anson took the Manilla ship, 
between the island of that name and the isle of Samar, in 
Asia. See Arith. Quest. 

— 1743. Anna L^titia Barbauld was born at Kib- 
worth, Leicestershire. She was the eldest child of Dr. 
John Aikin, a Dissenting Minister. The name of this 
lady will be respected as long as letters shall be cultivated 
in Britain, or wherever the English language is known. 
Her Lessons for Children from Two to Three Years old, 
called forth the praise of Johnson; and her various pub¬ 
lications, both in poetry and prose, have received the ap¬ 
probation of numerous readers. After a long, useful, 
and innocent life, this accomplished lady died at Stoke 
Newington, Middlesex, March 9, 1825. 

— 1751. John Shakeshanks and his wife established 
their right to a flitch of bacon, at Little Dunmow, in 
Essex, according to the ancient custom of that manor. 
The ceremonial established for these occasions consisted 
in the claimants’ kneeling on two sharp-pointed stones 
in the churchyard, and their making oath, that they had 
not once repented of their marriage;—had not had any 
domestic hr aids or contentions; — or offended each other 
in word or deed , for the space of a year and a day after 
their union. There were computed to be 5000 people 
present at the above ceremony; and the happy couple 
are said to have made upwards of 50/. by selling slices of 
the bacon to the company. They are the last persons 
that have benefited by this whimsical custom, which Mr. 
Gough, in the Britannia, says, is abolished; but others 
assert, that it is only dormant through the want of claim¬ 
ants, or from their negligence to enforce the demand. 
The earliest delivery of the bacon on record, was in the 
year 1445 ; since which period it has been obtained only 
five or six times. 

Thrice happy they whom love unites 
In equal rapture and sincere delights. 

Unbroken by complaints or strife, 

E’en to the latest hours of life. 


Francis’ Horace. 


JUNE. 


231 


20, 1756. Black-Hole Prison. This was a horrid place 
of “ durance vile” at Calcutta, Bengal, Asia, in which 
one hundred and twenty-three captives, mostly English, 
perished in one night. A monument was erected to their 
memory, by Mr. Holwell, one of the twenty-three sur¬ 
vivors of that dismal scene. (See Calcutta and Pinner, 
Bourn’s Gaz.) This gentleman shortly afterwards pub¬ 
lished an unadorned, but most affecting narrative of the 
melancholy event, admirably calculated to prevent abso¬ 
lute despair under the most disastrous calamities of human 
life. The severest and most incomprehensible dispensa¬ 
tions of a wise and benevolent Being, are no doubt in¬ 
tended as salutary lessons to mankind. 

— 1814. Peace. The proclamation of Peace, with its 
accustomed formalities, took place in the British metro¬ 
polis. 

“ The Dove* her resting-place hath found ; 

Glory to God—deliverance to mankind !” 

S ee Arith. Quest. 10th edit, on the subject of War and 
Peace. 

21, 1377. Died Edward III., in the sixty-fifth year of his 
age, and fifty-first of his reign, surviving the melancholy 
loss of his heroic son only about a year. (See the 8th of 
this month.) Edward was of the line of Plantagenet, and 
was succeeded by his grandson Richard II., a native of 
Bourdeaux, where his father, the Black Prince, resided 
many years as Governor of Guienne. 

— 1673. The Princess of Modena, near Mantua, in 
Italy, landed at Dover, where she was met by the Duke 
of York, afterwards James II., and married to him that 
evening. She was the daughter of Alphonzo d’Este, 
Duke of Modena. At the Revolution of 1688, she re¬ 
tired with James to France, and died at St. Germain, in 
1718, having survived her consort 17 years. James’s 
first wife, who died in 1761, was Anne Hyde, daughter 
of the celebrated Earl of Clarendon, who wrote the His¬ 
tory of the Rebellion , and who died in exile at Rouen, 
in 1674. 

— 1675. Was laid the first stone of St. Paul’s Cathe- 
dral.f This superb structure, which cost a million of 


* See E.ver. on the Globes , 11th edit. art. Columba Noachi. 
f See Arith. Quest. 



232 


JUKE. 


money, was finished in 1711, under one architect, the 
famous Sir Christopher Wren;* under one prelate, 
Henry Compton,f bishop of London; and under one 
mason, Mr. Strong. Bishop Compton preached the first 
sermon on the opening of the Cathedral. 

21, 1770. Expired, in the 65th year of his age, William 
Beckford, the patriotic Lord Mayor of London, in the 
year of his second service of that high office. Convinced 
that our liberties belong to posterity as well as to our¬ 
selves, he shewed himself at once the steadfast friend of 
his king and his country ; and was the only man of his 
time who with firmness (yet tempered with humility) 
durst tell the monarch on his throne, surrounded by his 
flatterers, the plain and honest truth ; whereby he vindi¬ 
cated the loyalty, while he evinced the independent spirit, 
of the city of London. His memorable speech to the 
king, in vindication of the people’s right to remonstrate 
to the throne, is inscribed under his statue in Guildhall.J 

— 1809. Died, in the 40th year of his age, at Stamford, 
in Lincolnshire, Daniel Lambert, a native of Leices¬ 
ter, remarkable for having greatly exceeded the ordinary 
dimensions of mankind. He weighed nearly ten stone 
more than the celebrated Bright, of Malden, in Essex. § 
See Nov. 12, 1750, and Arith. Quest. 

— 1813. ViTTOiiiA, in Biscay, Spain. At this town, Lord 
(now Duke of) Wellington gained a most brilliant 
victory; the French having lost every thing,—artillery, 
ammunition, baggage, cattle, provisions, money; in short, 
all the essential requisites of the army. This was his 
Lordship’s seventh victory in the Peninsula. See Arith. 
Quest. 10th edit. art. Bourdeaux, and Bourn’s Gazetteer , 
3rd edit. art. Vittoria. 

— 1816. Died, at Highgate, near London, aged 52, the 


* See Feb. 25, 1723. + See July 7, 1713. 

4 This elegant statue was the performance of the celebrated 
artist Bacon, and is esteemed an admirable likeness. Mr. Beck- 
ford is represented in the attitude in which he replied to his late 
Majesty’s answer to an address of the Lord Mayor, &c., &c., of 
the city of London, on the 23rd of May, 1770. On a black 
marble table, in letters of gold, are the words of this eloquent, 
dignified reply, of which it is impossible to speak with too high 
encomiums. See Bacon, Index. 

5 Mr. Bright weighed 42 stone 12 lbs. ; Mr. Lambert 52 stone 
11 lbs. horseman’s weight. See Arith. Tables. 




JUNE. 


23.3 


Rev. Jeremiah Joyce, a Unitarian minister, and the 
ingenious author of many elementary works that bear his 
name, and the laborious compiler of others published 
anonymously. His Arithmetic, Scientific Dialogues, Dia¬ 
logues on Chemistry, Letters on Natural Philosophy, and 
Introduction to the Arts and Sciences, have all been fa¬ 
vourably received by the public. He also co-operated 
with Messrs. Shepherd and Carpenter in a well-planned 
work, called Systematic Education. Mr. Joyce was a 
self-taught man, and was indebted chiefly to his uncom¬ 
mon industry for his rise in life. The qualities of his 
mind are to be estimated by the variety and extent of his 
labours; and in regard to those of his heart, his friends 
unanimously assert, that an honester or better man never 
lived. He was buried at Cheshunt, in Herts. 

21, 1830. Begins the Summer Quarter, the sun entering 
into the constellation = 3 , the Crab, at 11 hours, 50 min. 
P. M. This period is usually called the Summer Sol¬ 
stice ; the sun seeming to describe the tropic of Cancer, 
when he makes the longest day in our northern hemi¬ 
sphere, and brings from the south solstitial summer’s 
heat.” The solstices are two in each year; the summer 
solstice, and the winter solstice. The word solstice comes 
from two Latin words, viz. sol, the sun, and sto, to stand; 
because, for a few days after the 21st of June and the 
21st of December, there is but little variation in the 
length of the days, and therefore the sun seems to stand 
still. See Dec. 21, and Eater, on the Globes, art. Sol¬ 
stices. 

22, 1476. The celebrated battle of Morat, orMuRTEN, 
was fought. Jn this furious engagement, the heroic Swiss 
nearly destroyed the entire army of Charles the Bold, 
Duke of Burgundy. Not far from the town, and adjoin- 
to the high road, there were two pyramids formed with 
the bones of the Burgundian soldiers who were slain at 
the siege of the town and in the battle. This monument 
of Swiss bravery was destroyed by the French, in 1798. 
(See Bourn’s Gazetteer.') Morat is a rich, trading, and 
considerable town of Switzerland, a few miles west of 
Bern ; it is situated on a lake of the same name, and has 
an enchanting prospect. 

— 1535. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, one of the 
most eminent prelates for learning and morals of the age 
in which he lived, and who had long enjoyed the highest 
favour of the king, was beheaded. He was uufairly tried. 


234 


JUNE. 


and tyrannically executed, for not acknowledging the su¬ 
premacy* of Henry VIII. See Jan. 28, 1547. 

This celebrated prelate is characterized, by the learned 
Erasmus, as a man of deep erudition, integrity, sweetness 
of temper, and grandeur of soul. He was born at Bever¬ 
ley, in Yorkshire, and in the school of that town received 
the early part of his education. See July 6, 1535. 

22, 17^1. Louis XVI., King of France, and his family, 
who had the preceding day escaped from Paris, were ar¬ 
rested at Varennes, a small town in the department of the 
Meuse, and conducted back to the palace of the Thuil- 
leries. See Jan. 21, 1793. 

23, 303. Decollation of St. Alban. This pious man 
is said to have been the first person who suffered martyr¬ 
dom for Christianity in Britain; hence he is commonly 
styled the protomartyr of this island. He was born at 
Verulam (now St. Alban’s); and, travelling to Rome, em¬ 
braced a military life, and served seven years as a soldier 
under Diocletian. He afterwards returned to England, 
became a Christian, and was in consequence decapitated, 
as is generally stated, during the dreadful persecution 
raised by that celebrated emperor against the professors 
of Christianity.f Four or five hundred years after his 
death, Offa, king of Mercia, J built a stately monastery to 
liis memory; and the town of St. Alban’s, Herts, takes 
its name from him. 

— 1770. Died Dr. Mark Akenside, a celebrated phy¬ 
sician and poet, who was born in 1721, at Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne, and who is therefore often styled, “ The 
Bard of Tyne.” His father was a butcher. He was pos¬ 
sessed of a luxuriant fancy and highly cultivated mind, 
which he has eminently displayed in his admired work 
on “ The Pleasures of the Imagination,” — “ a more 
splendid poem, more replete with rich and lofty imagery. 


* Supremacy, in the English Church, is the superiority or sove¬ 
reignty of the king over the church, as well as the state, of En¬ 
gland, whereof he is made the head. It was first established by 
Henry VIIf., in 1534, after his breaking with the Pope. 

“ When Henry the Eighth left the Pope in the lurch, 

The Parliament made him the Head of the Church !” 

t See May 1, 304. 

J Mercia, in the ancient geography of England, was the name 
of one of the seven kingdoms (usually denominated the Heptar¬ 
chy) founded by the Saxons. 



JUNE. 


235 


will not easily be found within the range of English com¬ 
position. The design of it is, to investigate the source 
of those delights which the mind derives from a contem¬ 
plation of the objects presented to the senses by nature, 
and also those from imitations of them which are pro¬ 
duced by the arts of poetry, painting, and sculpture.”* * * § 
Dr. Akenside was buried in St. James’s church, West¬ 
minster. 

23, 1/91. Expired Catharine Macaulay Graham, a 
celebrated English historian, and political and didactic 
writer. She was born in 1/38 or 1739. 

24, St. John’s Day, the name of a Christian festival, f 
kept in commemoration of the wonderful circumstances 
attending the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner 
of our Saviour. He was the son of Zacharias and Eliza¬ 
beth. Retiring into a desert, he lived on locusts^ and 
wild honey; and, about the year 29, began to preach re¬ 
pentance, and to declare the coming of the Messiah. He 
baptized his disciples, and the following year Christ him¬ 
self was baptized by him in the river Jordan. Some time 
after, having reproved Herod Antipas, who had a criminal 
intercourse with Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, lie 
was imprisoned in the castle of Machserus, where he was 
decapitated.§ His head was brought to Herodias; who, 
according to St. Jerome, pierced his tongue with a bod- 


* Aikin’s Letters on English Poetry, addressed to a Lady, 
t See Annunciation, and John the son of Zebedee. 

X Matt. iii. 4. Locusts are to this day eaten by the inhabitants 
of Ethiopia, Arabia, &c. At Mecca they make a kind of fricassee 
of them : to the unpolished Hottentots they sometimes afford a 
high treat; and in Barbary and Numidia the Moors make them a 
pait of their food. They go to hunt them, fry them in oil and 
butter, and sell them publicly at Tunis and other places. From 
these accounts, which are extracted from Hasselquist, Sparrmau, 
and Poiret, and confirmed by other authors of undoubted vera¬ 
city, || we may see the folly of that dispute among divines con¬ 
cerning the nature of St. John’s food : some maintaining the 
original word to signify the fruits of certain trees ; others, a kind 
of birds, &c. See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. Nos. 5, 7, 11, 41, 
and Machaerus. 

Locusts are a kind of winged insect, of the same genus as the 
cricket and grasshopper. 

§ See August 29, Decollation of John the Baptist. 


|| Dampier, Shaw, and Ives, as quoted by the Rev. S. Buruer, iu 
his Oriental Customs, art. Locusts. 






236 JUNE. 

kin, to revenge herself after his death for the freedom of 
his reproofs.* 

We here see, says Bishop Porteus,f a fatal proof of the 
extreme barbarities to which that most diabolical senti¬ 
ment of revenge will drive the natural tenderness even of 
a female mind : what a close connexion there is between 
crimes of apparently a very different complexion ; and 
how frequently the uncontrolled indulgence of what are 
called the softer affections, leads ultimately to the most 
violent excesses of malignant passions! 

24, 1340. Edward III. gained a signal naval victory over 
the French, off Sluisse, or Sluys, a town in the Nether¬ 
lands, a few miles north of Bruges. By the superior 
abilities of the king, and the dexterity of his seamen, the 
English gained the wind of the enemy, and had the sun 
in their backs; and with these advantages began the ac¬ 
tion. The battle was fierce and bloody: the English 
archers,| whose force and address were now much cele¬ 
brated, were particularly active in galling the French on 
their approach. Two hundred and thirty French ships 
were taken: thirty thousand Frenchmen were killed, 
with two of their admirals: the loss of the English was 
inconsiderable. See the Naval Chron., or Hume’s Hist, 
of England. 

— 1494. Newfoundland, an island near North Ame¬ 
rica, was discovered by Cabot. 

— 1643. Died at Tame, John Hampden, one of the most 
popular men, and one of the greatest patriots, in the time 
of Charles I, against whom he took up arms, and received 


* Fulvia, the wife and cruel coadjutor of Anthony, during the 
massacres of the triumvirate,(| took the head of Cicero, and pla¬ 
cing it upon her lap, drew out the tongue and pierced it several 
times with her bodkin, uttering all the while the most oppro¬ 
brious language against that celebrated orator. See Cicero, 
Index. 

t Lecture the Fourteenth, which contains admirable com¬ 
ments on the conduct of the several actors in this dreadful tra¬ 
gedy, and is replete with the most important instruction and 
admonition, not only to the female sex, but to both sexes, to 
persons of all ages and conditions, to beware of giving way to 
any one evil propensity of their nature. See Blandv, Index, and 
April 14, 1809. 

X See Ever, on the Globes , art. Sagitta. 


|| See Aritli. Quest, art. Triumvirate. 





JUNE. 


23 7 


a mortal wound in a skirmish with Prince Rupert,* a 
German general, nephew to the king, and often mention¬ 
ed in this intestine war. Thomson, speaking of the great 
men that Britain has produced, celebrates Hampden in 
the glorious colours of a warm and active patriot: 

A Hampden too is thine, illustrious land, 

Wise, strenuous, firm, of unsubmitting soul, 

Who stem in’d the torrent of a downward age, 

To slavery prone, and bade thee rise again, 

To all thy native pomp of freedom bold. 

In such respect is the memory of Hampden still held 
by his grateful countrymen, that some years ago, one of 
his descendants being deficient in an account of public 
money, he was exonerated from the debt due to govern¬ 
ment by an act of parliament, particularly expressing, 
that it was for the services which his illustrious relation 
had done to his country, that this mark of favour was 
shewn to him. Seward’s Anecdotes of Distinguished 
Persons, f 

24, 1650. Was born at Ashe, in Devonshire, John 
Churchill, the great Duke of Marlborough. See 
June 16, 1/22. 

— 1/81. Died, in the forty-first year of her age, at ti e 
Hot Wells of Bristol, Lady Miller, of Bath-Easton Villa, 
near a village of the same name, delightfully situated 
about two miles from Bath, on the London road. She 
was author of “Letters from Italy in the Years 1770 and 
177U by an Englishwoman.” This lady also gave the 
world a pleasing work, entitled, “ Poetical Amusements 
at a Filla near Bath,” being the effusions, chiefly extem¬ 
poraneous, of several persons of rank and fashion. 

Lady Miller gave a weekly entertainment to persons of 
distinction in the city of Bath and its neighbourhood; 
and when the company were ushered in, and as each gen¬ 
tleman or lady passed a beautiful Etruscan vase brought 
by Lady Miller from Italy, and which for the occasion 
was decorated with sprigs of laurel, an offering was made 
of some original composition in verse, at first merely of 
what the French term bouts rimes, or rhyming termina¬ 
tions, which had been filled up by the candidate for poeti¬ 
cal fame, but afterwards of short performances on parti¬ 
cular subjects, given out the preceding week. The com- 


* See June 18, 1C43. 


f See Seward, Index. 



238 


JUNE. 


pany having * 1 all contributed, the papers were drawn out 
of the vase and read aloud. A committee was then named 
to determine whose brows the wreath of Apollo should 
decorate, and to adjudge the prizes; these retired into a 
room, and fixed on the four best productions; and when 
the authors had identified their property by naming their 
private signatures, they were presented by the liighpriestess 
of the temple, Lady Miller, with a fillet of myrtle, and 
crowned amidst the plaudits of the company. A very 
sensible feature of the gala, a genteel collation, concluded 
the business. Finis coronabat opus—the end crowned the 
work. Lady Miller was interred in the Abbey Church at 
Bath, where a beautiful marble monument, having on it 
some well-written stanzas, has been erected to her me¬ 
mory. 

24, 1782. Expired, Dr. John Blair, author of a valuable 
publication under the title of “ The Chronology and His¬ 
tory of the World, from the Creation to the Year of Christ 
1733,” which was continued in subsequent editions; the 
last of which, by Mr. Stephen Jones, brought it down 
to the proclamation of the Peace of Amiens, April 20, 
1802. 

25, 1314. Was fought the famous battle of Bannockburn, 
between the English, commanded by Edward II., and the 
Scotch, under the renowned Robert Bruce; when the 
army of the former, though vastly superior in numbers,* 
was not only defeated, but chased otf the field, and pur¬ 
sued with great slaughter for the space of several miles. 
The king himself narrowly escaped, by taking shelter in 
Dunbar. Bannockburn is a manufacturing village, near 
Stirling, f 

26, 1541. Francis Pizarro was assassinated at mid-day in 
his palace at Liina,+ the capital of Peru, in South Ame- 


* Some historians state the English army to have been 100,000, 
and the Scotch army 30,000 ; but others say the English army 
consisted of only 20,000 fighting men, and the Scotch of 2,000. 
See Bannockburn, and Ninians, St., Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

t The syllable burn, burne, or brun, means a river, ford, or 
brook. The king posted his forces near the ford or brook of 
Bannock. 

I Pizarro laid the foundation of this city, January 12, 1535; he 
also built in Peru the commercial port-town of Truxillo ; giving 
it this name in consequence of his having been born at Truxillo, 
in Estramadura, Spain. Dr. Southey, the Laureate, has written 



JUNE. 


239 


rica. This execrable Spaniard was the conqueror of Peru, 
in conjunction with Almagro, a Spanish navigator. They 
were both guilty of unparalleled treachery and cruelty to 
the natives, and at length fell just victims to their own 
ambition, jealousy, and avarice. Amalgro revolting, was 
defeated and beheaded by Pizarro, who was himself mur¬ 
dered by the son and friends of Almagro. 

26, 1691. Expired, almost suddenly, at Exeter, in the 64th 
year of his age, John Flavel, a native of Worcester¬ 
shire. He was one of the ministers ejected by the Act of 
Uniformity ;* * and his works, which make eight volumes 
in octavo, exhibit strong marks of unaffected and ardent 
piety. One of the most popular of his productions is, his 
“ Mystery of Providencea small tract eminently cal¬ 
culated, by numerous citations from the Sacred Scrip¬ 
tures, to encourage Christians in a firm reliance on Divine 
Providence, to reconcile them to its various dispensations, 
and “ to justify the ways of God to man.” See the Rev. 
Samuel Palmer’s Nonconformists’ Memorial 

— 1/52. Died Julius Cardinal Alreroni, at Placentia, 
Italy, where he was born in 1664. He was the son of a 
gardener; from which low origin, by his good fortune, 
liis address and abilities, he rose to be first minister of 
state to Philip V., king Of Spain. After having governed 
with an almost absolute power for many years, he was at 
last deprived of his dignity and banished from Spain. 

27, 363. Expired the famous Roman Emperor Julian 
styled the Apostate , because he professed the Christian 
religion before he ascended the throne, but afterwards 
openly embraced Paganism, and endeavoured to abolish 
Christianity. No prince was ever more variously repre¬ 
sented by different authors; on which account it is not 
easy to form a true judgment of his real character. It is 
generally admitted, that he was learned, liberal, tempe¬ 
rate, brave, vigilant, and a lover of justice; but, on the 
other hand, he had apostatized to Paganism, was an enemy 
to the Christian religion, and was, in fact, a persecutor, 
though not of the most sanguinary class. Julian was mor¬ 
tally "wounded in a battle with the Persians, and expired 


an inscription for a column at this last place, excellently calcu¬ 
lated to stigmatize cruelty, and to suppress inordinate ambition. 

See Southey’s Letters on Spain and Portugal; or Bourn’s Gaz. 
art. Truxillo. 

* See Aug. 24, 1662, and Arith. Quest. 10th edit. 




240 


JUNE. 


the following night in the thirty-second year of his age. 
His last moments were spent in conversing with Maximus, 
the philosopher, concerning the immortality of the soul; 
and he died without expressing the least sorrow for his 
fate, or the suddenness of his death. He was buried at 
Tarsus, in Cicilia, but was afterwards removed to Con¬ 
stantinople, his native city. See Tarsus, Index, and Geo. 
Eccer. on the New Test. 

27, 1462. Louis XII., surnamed the Just , was born at 
Blois, Province of Orleanois, department of Lot and 
Cher. See January 1, and October 9. 

— 1550. Charles IX. was born at St. Germain. See 
May 30, 1574. 

— 1/ 77 - Was executed at Tyburn for the crime of for¬ 
gery, Dr. William Dodd, a very popular and celebrated 
preacher, and most zealous promoter of charitable insti¬ 
tutions. He published a large Commentary on the Bible, 
in three volumes folio, besides some poems, and several 
sermons and tracts of piety. But pride, and a habit of 
sumptuous living, counterbalanced his useful and laudable 
qualities, and led him to the commission of that act which 
brought him to an ignominious end. He was born at 
Bourn, in the western part of Lincolnshire, (of which 
place his father was vicar,) in 1729. 

28, 1461. King Edward IV. was crowned at Westmin¬ 
ster. He was of the Plantagenet line. 

— 1797. Expired suddenly, at London, aged sixty-seven, 
George Keate, F. R S., well known for his elegantly 
written account of the Pelew Islands, and several other 
entertaining works both in prose and verse. Of the latter, 
his poem called “ The Alps” is allowed to be entitled to 
the highest praise, for truth of description, elegance of 
versification, and vigour of fancy. One of the most suc¬ 
cessful of his prose publications was his “ Sketches from 
Nature,” a work which contains many pleasing delinea¬ 
tions of life, many strokes of humour, and much neatness 
of composition. Mr. Keate, being a man of fortune, was 
hospitable and beneficent, and possessed the good-will of 
his amis de table in an eminent degree He was interred 
in Isleworth* church, where a monument is erected to 
his memory stating his death to have happened on the 
above day; though his biographers assign the 27th as the 


* Isleworth is a pleasant village in Middlesex, situated on the 
banks of the Thames, nine miles west of London, 




JUNE. 


241 


date of his decease. He was a native of Trowbridge, a 
town in Wiltshire. See Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

29, 66. St. Peter and St. Paul’s Festival. St. Peter, 
the Apostle, was born at Bethsaida, in Galilee,* and was 
brother of St. Andrew. His first name was Simon or 
Simeon; but when our Saviour called him to the apostle- 
sliip, he changed it to Cephas, that is, in Syriac, a stone 
or rock; in Latin, petra , whence Peter. He was a mar¬ 
ried man ; and had his house, his mother-in-law, and his 
wife, at Capernaum, upon the lake of Genesareth. This 
apostle was firmly attached to his Divine Master, and was 
one of the three selected by him to be witness of his glory 
and his humiliation. After Christ’s ascension, Peter con¬ 
tinued very zealous and constant in his Lord’s service, 
till he himself was crowned with martyrdom, at Rome, 
by crucifixion. This happened in the Via Ostia, with his 
head downwards, as he, out of humility, had desired of 
his executioners. It is said, that his body was at first 
buried in the catacombs, f near Rome, whence it was 
afterwards transported to the Vatican. + He had been 


* See May 1. 

4* Catacombs are grottoes or subterraneous places for the burial 
of the dead. Anciently the word catacomb was only understood 
of the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul. The vast assemblage of 
subterraneous sepulchres about Rome are supposed to be the 
burial-places of martyrs, and are visited accordingly out of devo¬ 
tion, and relics are thence taken and dispersed through Catholic 
countries. Though the catacombs of Rome have made the greatest 
noise of any in the world, there are similar receptacles belonging 
to many other cities, particularly Naples : indeed, the method of 
preserving the dead in catacombs seems to have been common to 
many of the ancient nations. The catacombs of Egypt are still 
extant about nine leagues from Grand Cairo. The bodies found 
in catacombs, especially those of Egypt, are called mummies; and, 
as the Egyptians excelled in the art of embalming and preserving 
their dead bodies, those found in their catacombs are in a better 
state than the bodies found either in those of Italy, or any other 
part of the world. 

J The Vatican is a magnificent palace in Rome, belonging to 
the Pope, and containing one of the richest libraries in the world, 
both in printed books and manuscripts. The Mons Vaticanus, 
where this palace stands, owes its name to the answers of the 
Votes , or prophets, that used to be given here; or to the god 
Vaticanus. Lempriere’s Class. Diet. 

M 



242 


JUNE. 


bishop of Rome twenty-four years ; and at his death was 
about seventy-five years old. Many learned men, how¬ 
ever, think it improbable that St. Peter ever visited Rome; 
and still more improbable, that he was established bishop 
of that city. See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. No. 156, 
3d edit. 

St. Paul, formerly named Saul, was first a persecutor 
of the church, but afterwards a disciple of Jesus Christ, 
and the most zealous of Christian missionaries. His pa¬ 
rents sent him early to Jerusalem, where he studied the 
law at the feet of Gamaliel, a famous doctor. He is sup¬ 
posed to have been a convert to Christianity about the 
year 36 or 37;* * * § and consummated his martyrdom by 
decapitation, at a place called Aqius Salviw, the Salvian 
Waters , on the above day, by order of Nero,f whom he 
had enraged by converting one of his favourite concu¬ 
bines. Some state the apostle’s age at fifty-five, others 
at sixty-eight, at his death. See Geo. Exer. on the New 
Test. art. Tarsus. 

29, 1559. Montgomery, Count de Montgomery in Nor¬ 
mandy, remarkable for his valour and noble achieve¬ 
ments, had the misfortune to extinguish an eye of Henry 
the Second, of France, in a tournament;]; a disastrous 
event which, in a few days, caused the king’s death. The 
monarch in his last moments nobly enjoined, that Mont¬ 
gomery should not be prosecuted or harassed, in any re¬ 
spect whatever, on account of his fatal accident. This 
unfortunate nobleman, however, fell a victim some years 
afterwards to the unjust revenge of the infamous Catharine 
de’ Medici, and suffered death by decapitation, June 26, 
1574.§ 

Henry the Second was succeeded by his son Francis, 


* See January 25. + See April 30, 66. 

J Tournament is a martial sport or exercise which the ancient 

cavaliers used to perform, to shew their bravery and address. It 
is derived from the French word tourner, “ to turn round,” be¬ 
cause, to be expert in these exercises, much agility, both of horse 
and man, was necessary. Tournaments made the principal exer¬ 
cises of the 13th and 14th centuries; but being at length pro¬ 
ductive of mischievous consequences, the princes of Europe 
gradually concurred in discouraging and suppressing them. 

§ See the Ency. Brit. art. Montgomery; and Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit, art, Equestrian Expedition. 



JUNE. 243 

the Dauphin,* * * § who thus became king of France, under 
the title of Francis the Second. See April 24, 1558. 

29, 1761. The City Road from Islington to Old Street 
was first opened for passengers and carriages. 

— 1774. Expired, at Little Ealing, in Middlesex, Dr. 
Pearce, Bishop of Rochester, an eminent prelate who 
had distinguished himself in every part of his life, by 
great modesty and the virtues proper to his station. His 
literary abilities, and application to sacred and philologi¬ 
cal learning, appear by his numerous works. His excel¬ 
lent edition of Longinus on the Sublime and Beautiful, is 
still admired by the best critics; and his “ Commentary 
on the Four Evangelists, &c., &c., with Notes,” (a post¬ 
humous publication,) is often quoted by divines. 

Bishop Pearce was the son of a distiller in Holbom; 
and although of a delicate constitution, his life was ex¬ 
tended, by the blessing of Providence, beyond his eighty- 
fifth year. He has a monument in Westminster-Abbey, 
where he was interred 

— 1813. Died, at his house in St. Alban’s Street, London, 
Valentine Green, Esq., A. R. S., Keeper of the British 
Institution ;f greatly respected for his superior talents as 
a mezzotinto engraver, for the purity and universality of 
his taste in works of art, for the general urbanity of his 
manners, and for that invariable benignity of disposition, 
which, in popular language, is usually styled “ goodness 
of heart.” He was born at Salford, near Chipping-Nor- 
ton, in Oxfordshire, October 3, 1739. 

Mr. Green, besides his distinguished merit as an artist, 
acquired considerable reputation as an author, by publish¬ 
ing, in 1796, a valuable work, entitled, “The History and 
Antiquities of the City and Suburbs of Worcester,” in 
two quarto volumes; a performance of great research and 
labour. It is handsomely printed byBulmer, embellished 
with numerous masterly engravings,} and dedicated by 
permission to his late Majesty.§ 


* Dauphin was a title given to the eldest son of the king of 
France, and presumptive heir to the crown; on account of the 
province of Dauphiny, in that country, which in 1343 was given 
to Philip de Valois, ou this express condition. 

f See Feb. 23, 1792. 

+ One of those is an admirable likeness of the author, engraved 
by Fittler, historical engraver to the King. 

§ The first edition of this book, then called “ A Survey,” &c., 

m2 




244 


JUNE 


30, 1685. Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyle, was un¬ 
justly beheaded at Edinburgh, in the bigoted reign of 
James II. (See Dunstaffnage and Balling Heirig, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer.') Though the sword of justice was displayed, 
even her semblance was not put on; and the forms of 
law were only preserved to sanctify, or rather aggravate, 
the foul oppression. The earl exhibited great courage 
and undaunted constancy under his misfortunes; slept 
soundly the night before his execution,* * and even on the 
very day of his death not only ate his dinner cheerfully, 
but, according to his custom, enjoyed his afternoon’s nap. 
He made a short, grave, and religious speech on the scaf¬ 
fold, and, after solemnly declaring that he forgave all his 
enemies, submitted to his fate with heroic firmness. Such 
were the last hours, and such the final close, of this great 
man’s life. May the like happy serenity in such dreadful 
circumstances, and a death equally glorious, be the lot of 
all whom tyranny, of whatever denomination or descrip¬ 
tion, shall, in any age or in any country, call to expiate 
their virtues on the scaffold! 

Argyle’s religion (says Mr. Fox) was of that genuine 
kind, which, by representing the performance of our duty 
to our neighbour as the most acceptable service to God, 
strengthens all the charities of social life. Let him be 
weighed never so scrupulously, and in the nicest scales, 
he will not be found, in a single instance, wanting in the 
charity of a Christian, the firmness and benevolence of a 
patriot, or the integrity and fidelity of a man of honour. 
The last scene of this amiable nobleman’s life is most 
beautifully described by Mr. Fox, in his “ History of the 
Reign of James II.,” ami it forms also one of the most 
eloquently written parts of Hume’s History. 

— 1689. Rosene, marshal general of king James’s forces 
in Ireland, was guilty of an act of barbarity scarcely to be 
paralleled in history. To induce the brave defenders of 


was published in 1764, during the time of his apprenticeship in 
Worcester. 

* The venerable Socrates slept the evening before his death 
as quietly as at any other time ; passed the last day of his life 
in conversing cheerfully with his friends upon the immortality 
of the soul, took the fatal cup of poison without any emotion 
or change of countenance, and drank off the baneful draught 
with an amazing tranquillity, and a serenity of aspect not to be 
expressed, or hardly even conceived. Lord Russell also slept 
soundly the night before his unjust execution. 



JUNE. 


245 


Londonderry to give up that place, lie collected together 
4,000, some say 7,000, of the neighbouring Protestants 
of all ages and conditions, stript them entirely naked, 
deprived them of food, and in that forlorn condition 
caused the miserable objects to be driven under the walls 
of the city, where a considerable number of them actually 
perished through fatigue, grief, or the want of sustenance. 
See April 20, 1689 

30, 1825. Was accidentally drowned, at Stanwell, a village 
in Middlesex, about two miles from Staines, the Rev. 
Henry Kktt, author of “ History the Interpreter of 
Prophecy/’ “ Elements of General Knowledge,” &c., &e. 
The former work received the commendations of Bishops 
Tomline and Porteus. 


( 2 46 ) 


JULY. 

Deep to the root 

Of vegetation parch’d, the cleaving fields 
And slipp’ry lawn an arid hue disclose. 

Echo no more returns the cheerful sound 
Of sharp’ning scythe ! the mower sinking, heaps 
O’er him the humid hay, with flow’rs perfum’d. 

Thomson. 

July is the seventh month of the year; the word is derived 
from the Latin Julius , the family name of C. Caesar, the 
dictator,* who was born in it. Mark Antony first gave this 
month the name of July , which before was called Quintilis, 
as being the fifth month in the year in the old Roman calen¬ 
dar established by Romulus, which, as we have before ob¬ 
served, began in the month of March. For the same reason, 
August was called Seatilis; and September, October, No¬ 
vember, and December, still retain the name of their first 
rank. 

July is usually the hottest month in the year; when, as 
“ the bard of Ednam” well remarks, the luxury of cooling 
shades is peculiarly grateful: 

Welcome, ye shades ! ye bow’ry thickets, hail I 
Ye lofty pines ! ye veuerable oaks ! 

Ye ashes wild, resounding o’er the steep ! 

Delicious is your shelter to the soul. 

As to the hunted hart the sallying spring. 

Thomson. 

Artists are recommended by Peachain to draw July in a 
jacket of light yellow, eating cherries, with his face and 
bosom sun-burnt. 


* A dictator was a Roman magistrate, created by the senate 
or people in times of exigence and distress, and invested with 
absolute authority for a certain time, usually for six months, 
though the office was sometimes continued to twelve. Sylla was 
the first perpetual dictator, and Caesar the next and last. 

Julius with honour tam’d Rome’s foreign foes ; 

But patriots fell, ere the dictator rose. 


Prior. 



JULY. 


247 


REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, 1312. Gaveston, a native of Gascony, the infamous 
minion of Edward II., was put to death on a small emi¬ 
nence, since called Gaveston-hill, near Warwick. 

— 1690. The Battle of the Boyne. This important en¬ 
gagement, which gave a mortal wound to the interests of 
James II., was fought between that monarch and Wil¬ 
liam HI., on the banks of the Boyne, a river of Ireland, 
which rises in Kildare, and empties itself into the sea at 
Drogheda, in the county of Louth. William commanded 
in person; the dastardly James was no more than a specta¬ 
tor of this most important conflict, and, even before his 
army was completely routed, fled with the utmost precipi¬ 
tation to Dublin, and thence to Waterford, where he em¬ 
barked for France. The Irish lost about 1,500 men in 
this engagement, and the Protestants about one-third of 
that number. The most remarkable person who lost his 
life on this occasion was the gallant Duke Schoinberg, 
who fell in the eighty-second year of his age, after having 
rivalled the best generals of the time in military reputa¬ 
tion.* This battle likewise proved fatal to the Rev. Mr. 
Walker, who, for his bravery at Londonderry, had received 
the thanks of the House of Commons, and had been 
graciously received by King William and rewarded with 
5,000/., and a promise of further favour; but, his military 
genius still predominating, he attended his royal patron 
in this conflict: and being mortally wounded, died in a 
few minutes.f He was born of English parents in the 


* Frederick de Schoinberg, marshal of France, was created by 
King William, Duke Schomberg. He was son of Count Schom- 
berg, by Lord Dudley’s daughter. The count was killed, with 
several sons, at the battle of Prague, 1620. The duke was a 
man of great calmness, application, and conduct; of true judg¬ 
ment, exact probity, and humble, obliging temper; and, accord¬ 
ing to De Foe, “ the ablest soldier of the age.” The persecution 
of the Protestants induced him to leave France and enter into 
King William’s service. His son was mortally wounded at the 
of Marsaglia, Sept. 24, 1693. 

f One of the late Mr. West’s most celebrated pictures was the 
Battle of the Boyne. It has been engraved by Hall, and the 
painting is in Earl Grosvenor’s fine collection. In the centre of 
the piece is King William on a grey horse, crossing the Boyne, 
and followed by his staff, amongst whom, immediately above the 



248 


JULY. 


county of Tyrone, Ireland, and educated in the Univer¬ 
sity of Glasgow, Scotland. He was afterwards Rector 
of Donaghmore, near Londonderry. The University of 
Oxford conferred the degree of D.D. on him in February 
1690, in which year he was unfortunately killed. 

1, 1691. Athlone, on the river Shannon, in the county of 
Westmeath, Ireland, was taken by storm by General Gin- 
kle; who, for his conduct, intrepidity, and success on 
this occasion, was created Earl of Athlone by King Wil¬ 
liam. 

— 1818. Sir Thomas Bernard died at Leamington, two 
miles east of Warwick. He was particularly active in 
promoting and establishing various plans for the benefit 
of the poor; and the British Institution for promoting the 
Fine Arts, since better known by the name of the British 
Gallery, was founded at his suggestion. See note, Feb. 23. 

2, 1644. At Marston Moor, about six miles from the city 
of York, the Royalists, commanded by Prince Rupert, 
were defeated by the Parliamentarians, under Lord Fair¬ 
fax. The victory was owing, in a great measure, to 
Cromwell’s valour and good conduct. 

— 1784. Died, near Paris, Dionysius Diderot, a cele¬ 
brated French poet, and one of the chief writers in the 
Dictionnaire Encyclopedlque , a stupendous performance, 
which contains much valuable information in every de¬ 
partment of physical science; but, as Diderot, D’Alem¬ 
bert, and Voltaire, the most active editors and supporters 
of that voluminous work, were sworn enemies to religion 
of every kind, it displays without restraint or shame the 
most infamous dogmas of impiety, and a contempt for 
every thing which can make mankind happy here or here¬ 
after. Diderot was the son of a cutler at Langres, where 
he was born in 1713. This town is situated on a moun¬ 
tain in Upper Marne, and is supposed to stand the highest 
of any in France; its cutlery wares are still in the highest 
esteem. 

— 1805. Being the anniversary of Klopstock’s birth-day, 
some of his friends assembled at his grave and strewed 


horsemen in front, Prince George of Denmark, (husband of the 
Princess afterwards Queen Anne,) and the Duke of Ormond, are 
introduced. On the right, supported by three officers, the Duke 
of Schomberg—and the Rev. George Walker is seen in the back 
ground. See JVir. Young’s Catalogue, and Engravings of the 
Grosvenor Gallery. 




JULY. 


249 


flowers over it; a mark of affection which they had before 
shewn him at his interment. See March 14, 1803 

It was a practice of high antiquity to plant herbs and 
flowers about the graves of the dead ; a custom which 
might originate from the belief of the doctrine of the re¬ 
surrection, or perhaps from a passage in Isaiah; see chap, 
xxvi. 19. The women in Egypt go weekly to pray and 
weep at the sepulchres of the dead; and it is then usual 
to throw a sort of herb (our sweet basil) upon the tombs ; 
which in Asia Minor, and Turkey in Europe, are also 
adorned either with the leaves of the palm-tree, boughs 
of myrtle, or cypresses planted at the head and feet.* * * § 
Between some of the tombs is placed a chest of orna¬ 
mented stone, filled with earth, in which are planted herbs 
and aromatic flowers. These are regularly cultivated by 
females of the family, who assemble in groups for that 
duty. At Aleppo, there grow many myrtles, which they 
diligently propagate, because they are beautiful and re¬ 
main long green, to put about their graves. This account 
is extracted from tlie writings of Maillet, Chandler, and 
Dallaway. See Burder’s Oriental Customs; also July 
7, 1713. 

3, Commence, according to the almanacks, the Canicular 
or Dog-Days, which are a certain number of days pre¬ 
ceding and following the heliacalf rising of Canicula, or 
the Dog-Star, in the morning'. Their beginning is usually 
fixed in the calendars on the 3rd of July, and their termi¬ 
nation on the 11th of August; but this is a palpable mis¬ 
take, since the heliacal rising of this star does not now 
take place, at least in our latitude, till near the latter end 
of August ;X and in five or six thousand years more, Ca¬ 
nicula inav chance to be charged with bringing frost and 
snow, as it will then, owing to the precession of the equi¬ 
noxes^ rise in November and December. 

— 987. Capet was crowned at Rheiins. He was the. 
first of a long race of kings who for eight hundred years 
occupied the throne of France. He died on Oct. 24, 997. 

— 1423. Louis XI., son of Charles VII., was born at 
Bourges. He was an unnatural son and a despotic king. 


* Our Saviour mentions the garnishing of the sepulchres, Matt, 
xxiii. 29. See also ver. 27, and Matt. viii. 28. 

f See Exer. on the Globes , art. Heliacal. 

+ See Ibid. art. Dies Caniculares. 

§ See Ibid. art. Equinoxes, Precession of. 

M 3 



250 


JULY. 


yet he received from Pope Pius II. the title of Most Chris¬ 
tian, which became a permanent title to the kings of 
France. 

4, The Latins fix the festival of Haggai, the tenth of the 
minor prophets,* who is generally supposed to have been 
a native of Babylon, and to have been interred at Jeru¬ 
salem. 

— 1533. John Fryth was burnt in Smithfield, on ac¬ 
count of his having become a convert to Lutheranism. 
He was born at Seven-Oaks, in Kent, and was educated 
at Cambridge. 

— 1761. Died, Samuel Richardson an eminent En¬ 
glish printer, in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, and inven¬ 
tor of a peculiar species of moral romance. Dr. Johnson 
styles him “ an author from whom the age has received 
great favours, who has enlarged the knowledge of human 
nature, and taught the passions to move at the command 
of virtue.” He was born in Derbyshire in 1689, and is 
interred in St. Bride’s church. Fleet Street; where also 
was buried Lovelace, the poet, who died in 1658. His 
poems, which are extremely scarce, were printed under 
the title of “ Lucasta” 

— 1776. The Americans formally renounced all con¬ 
nexion with Britain, and declared themselves indepen¬ 
dent. This event is annually commemorated at Boston, 
and an oration pronounced on the occasion. See April 
19, 1775. 

— 1816. Died, Richard Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, 
a most liberal-minded prelate, who possessed many claims 
to public attention, as a theologian, a chemist, a legislator, 
an agriculturist, and a man of letters. Having vindicated 
the principles of general liberty, and justified the Glo¬ 
rious Revolution of 1688, in two animated printed 
discourses, Dr. Watson next proceeded to justify Chris¬ 
tianity itself from the attacks of the late Mr. Gibbon. 


* The word prophet, in popular language, means one of the 
sacred writers empowered by God to display futurity. We have 
in the Old Testament the writings of sixteen prophets, i. e. of 
four greater, and twelve lesser. The former are Isaiah, Jere¬ 
miah, Ezekiel, and Daniel ; the latter are Hosea, Joel, Amos, 
Obadiah, Micah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, 
Zechariah, and Malachi. 

The Jews do not place Daniel among the prophets, because 
(they say) he lived in the splendour of temporal dignities, and a 
kind of life different from other prophets. 



JULY. 


251 


This valuable work was entitled, “ An Apology for Chris¬ 
tianity, in a Series of Letters, addressed to Edward Gib¬ 
bon, Esq.,” and it soon became a popular production; 
for instead of commencing his attack with the violence of 
bigoted zeal, and bespattering his sceptical antagonist 
with the usual quantum of “ theological dirt,” Dr. Watson 
displayed all the mildness of a true Christian, and all the 
good manners of a well-bred gentleman. In 1796, Bishop 
Watson published another admirable work, entitled, “An 
Apology for the Bible, in a Series of Letters addressed to 
Thomas Paine;” written with the same gentleness and 
urbanity that he had manifested in his address to Mr. Gib¬ 
bon. And it is generally allowed, that in both instances 
lie rendered eminent service to the cause of Christianity, 
and proved himself an able defender of Revealed Religion. 

Bishop Watson appears to have entertained very candid 
and enlightened views on religious subjects.* Speaking 
of the late Duke of Grafton, he observes, “ I never at¬ 
tempted either to encourage or to discourage his profes¬ 
sion of Unitarian principles, for I was happy to see a 
person of his rank professing, with intelligence and with 
sincerity, Christian principles. If any one thinks that a 
Unitarian is not a Christian, I plainly say, without being 
myself a Unitarian, that I think otherwise.” (Anecdotes 
of the Life of Richard Watson t &c., Vol. I. p. 75.) It 
is worthy of remark also, that this learned prelate was no 
friend to creeds in general, drawing his own theological 
system exclusively from the Sacred Volume: for, when 
he obtained the first office for honour in the University— 
that of Professor of Divinity, he determined to reduce the 
study of divinity into as narrow a compass as he could, 
and to study nothing but his Bible ; being much uncon¬ 
cerned about the opinions of councils, fathers, churches, 
bishops, and other men, as little inspired as himself. 
Holding the New Testament in his hand, he used to 


* The worthy dignitary was, however, greatly, and perhaps 
justly, afraid of Popery, because, as he observes, where it has the 
power it assumes the right of persecution; and whilst it believes 
that in afflicting the body it saves the soul of a convert, he could 
not see how it can abandon the idea of the utility of persecution. 
He elsewhere says, “ No man upon earth, I trust, can have more 
enlarged sentiments of toleration than I have ; but the Church of 
Rome is a persecuting church, and it is our interest and our duty, 
on every principle of religion and common sense, to guard our¬ 
selves against her machinations.” 



252 


JULY. 


say to his opponents in the divinity schools, “ Here is the 
fountain of truth; why do you follow the streams derived 
from it by the sophistry, or polluted by the passions, of 
man ? Articles of churches are not of divine authority ; 
have done with them; for they may be true, they may 
be false; and appeal to the book itself.” The erudite 
Chillingworth was accustomed to say, “ The Bible , the 
Bible, is the Religion of Protestants ;” and the immortal 
Locke being asked, “ what was the shortest and surest 
way to attain a true knowledge of the Christian religion, 
in the full and just extent of it,” answered “Study the 
Holv Scriptures, especially the New Testament. Therein 
are contained the words of eternal life. It has God for 
its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any 
mixture of error, for its matter.” 

Bishop Watson’s friend, Mr. Luther, who died January 
13, 178G, most generously bequeathed him an estate in 
Sussex, which he immediately sold for upwards of 20,000/., 
and the year following, by the advice of his physicians, 
took leave of University business, and retired to his native 
air in Westmoreland. There, in the summer of 1789, 
he laid the foundation of his house in a delightful situation 
on the banks of the beautiful lake Winandermere: where, 
he says, in the highly interesting Anecdotes of himself 
which were left for posthumous publication, he spent 
more than twenty years, “ partly in supporting the religion 
and constitution of his country by seasonable publications; 
but principally, in building farm-houses, blasting rocks, 
inclosing wastes, making bad land good, planting larches, 
and also planting in the hearts of his children principles 
of piety, benevolence, and self-government. By such 
occupations, he much recovered his health, entirely pre¬ 
served his independence, set an example of spirited hus¬ 
bandry to the county, and honourably provided for his 
family.” This great and good man was born at Hever- 
snain, near Kendal, in 1737; and expired, in the 79th 
year of his age, at his seat, called Calgarth Park; illus¬ 
trating in death the truth of his favourite rule of conduct 
through life : “ Keep innoceney, and take heed unto the 
thing that is right, for that shall bring a man peace at the 
last.” 

A, 1826. The Jubilee or Fiftieth Anniversary of the de¬ 
claration of Independence by the United States, 
was celebrated throughout the whole of the Union with 
extraordinary enthusiasm. By a coincidence which may 
well be termed remarkable, two of the most distinguished 


JULY. 


253 


American Patriots, members of the committee which 
drew up that declaration in the year 1 7 / 6 , the venerable 
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, Ex-presidents of the 
United States, died on the day of celebrating 1 the Jubilee; 
the former at Monticello in Virginia, the latter at Quincy, 
about eight miles South from Boston. 

5, Being' the first Friday of this month in the year 1811, 
the fair of Fairlop was held, agreeably to a long-esta¬ 
blished annual custom. See Ewer. on the Globes , art. 
Robur Caroli. 

— 1101). Jerusalem was taken by the crusaders, after a 
siege of five weeks. Impelled by a mixture of military 
and religious rage, they put the numerous garrison and 
ini abitants to the sword, without distinction. Neither 
arms defended the valiant, nor submission the timorous: 
no age nor sex was spared: infants on the breast were 
pierced by the same blow with their mothers who im¬ 
plored for mercy: even a multitude to the number of 
10,000 persons, who had surrendered themselves prison¬ 
ers, and were promised quarter, were butchered in cool 
blood by those ferocious ruffians, who yet had the impious 
effrontery to style themselves Christians! ! See Arith . 
Quest art. Croisade. 

— 1643. Battle of Lansdown, near Bath, in the civil wars 
of Charles I., in which the King’s forces were victorious, 
but lost the gallant Sir Bevil Grenville. A superb co¬ 
lumn was erected to the memory of Sir Bevil Grenville 
on the north declivity of the hill where he fell, by the 
Hon. George Granville Lord Lansdown. The south 
tablet of this monument contains an eulogiuin by the 
great Lord Clarendon. 

— 1685. The Duke of Monmouth being defeated at 
Sedgemore, a village near Bridgewater, in Somersetshire, 
a rebellion which had been rashly undertaken, and feebly 
conducted, was thus finally concluded. Monmouth had 
been excited to make an invasion by Ford, Lord Gray, 
who afterwards ruined his cause by his notorious cow¬ 
ardice. Lord Gray’s character was also stained with licen¬ 
tiousness, falsehood, and ingratitude. See June 11, 1685, 
and Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Ringwood and Sedgemore. 

6, 1189. Henry II. expired at Chinon, near Saumur, 
province of Touraine, department of Indre and Loire; 
and was interred at Fontevrault, department of Maine and 
Loire, province of Anjou, fie died of a broken heart, hav¬ 
ing previously cursed the day in which he received his 


254 


JULY. 


miserable being,* and bestowed on his ungrateful and 
undutiful children a malediction which he could not be 
prevailed on to retract. He was at his death in the 58th 
year of his age, and 35th of his reign ; the greatest prince 
of his time for wisdom, virtue, and abilities, and the most 
powerful in extent of dominion, of all that had ever filled 
the throne of England. 

6, 1483. King Richard III., and his Queen, Anne, 

were crowned at Westminster, Richard making use of 
the preparations which had been designed for his nephew 
Edward V., whose reign thus terminated after a duration 
of twelve weeks. Edward and his brother were soon 
after murdered in the Tower. 

— 1415. John Huss was burnt alive for heresy, at Con¬ 
stance, a city on a lake of the same name, in the south 
part of Germany, by order of a Council of Divines held 
in that city, though the Emperor Sigismund had given 
him a safe-conduct. He endured the dreadful punish¬ 
ment with unparalleled magnanimity and resignation. 
The same unhappy fate was borne with the same pious 
fortitude and constancy of mind by Jerome of Prague, 
the intimate companion of Huss, who came to this coun¬ 
cil with the generous design of supporting and seconding 
his persecuted friend. He suffered May 30, 1416. 
The most scandalous violation of public faith, the cruelty 
and treachery which attended the punishment of these 
unhappy disciples of Wickliffe, our great Reformer, 
prove, says Hume, this melancholy truth, that toleration 
is none of the virtues of priests in any form of ecclesias¬ 
tical government. 

— 1535. Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor in the 
time of Henry VIII., was decollated for denying that 
monarch’s supremacy. He resided many years in a house 
near the river-side at Chelsea, where the king used occa¬ 
sionally to visit him, and always treated him with the 
greatest familiarity. See June 22, 1535, and note, Oct. 
29, 1618. 


* See Job, chap. iii. ver. 1, &c. &c., and Job, index. 

He curst his fate. 

His day of birth, its inauspicious light, 

He wishes sunk in shades of endless night, 

And blotted from the year. Young. 




JULY. 


255 


6, 1553. Expired at Greenwich, in the 16th year of his 
age,* and the seventh of his reign, Edward VI., a 
prince on whose excellent qualities all the English his¬ 
torians dwell with extreme pleasure. He was learned, 
pious, and charitable. 

O ! lost too early, blest beyond thine age, 

Priuce, patriot, saint, and statesman, child and sage ! 

On the demise of this amiable youth, the sanguinary 
Mary, his half-sister, succeeded to the crown. Edward 
was of the Tudor line. He was buried in Westminster 
Abbey. 

— 1700. Died, at Aix-la- Chapelle, in Germany, George 
Augustus Elliot, Lord Heathfield, the famous Go¬ 
vernor and Defender of the important fortress of Gibral¬ 
tar, during a formidable investment of three years by the 
Spaniards. His conduct during that memorable siege 
exalted him to the most elevated rank in the military 
annals of the age, and justly entitled him to the honours 
of the peerage. He was born at Stobbs, in Roxburgh¬ 
shire, in the year 1718, and was the most abstemious 
man of his time. During the siege of Gibraltar, his 
food was vegetables, and his drink water. He indulged 
himself in neither animal food nor wine,f and never 


* See Oct. 12, 1537. 

t The most valiant Trojan chief, Hector, appears from Homer 
to have practised a similar abstemiousness with respect to wine : 

Far hence be Bacchus’ gifts (the chief rejoin’d) ; 
Inflaming wine, pernicious to mankind, 

Unnerves the limbs, and dulls the noble mind. 

Pope’s Homer. 

Some eminent physicians are said to agree with Homer in this 
point: maintaining, that wine neither raises the spirits nor in¬ 
creases strength. It has been remarked, that Samson, as well as 
Hector, was a water-drinker, being a Nazarite by vow, and as 
such forbidden the use of wine. To this Milton alludes in his 
Samson Agonistes: 

Wherever fountain or fresh current flow’d 
Against the eastern ray, translucent, pure, 

I drank,—nor envy’d them the grape, 

Whose heads that turbulent liquor fills with fumes. 

Tournefort mentions a Venetian consul that resided at Smyrna, 
who lived to the age of one hundred and eighteen years, and never 
drank any thing but water.—See Arith. Quest., art. Water. 



256 JULY. 

slept more than four hours at a time. See July 22, 
1704. 

6, 1813. Expired, at Fulham, aged 79, Granville 
Sharp, Esq., a man of varied learning and pre-eminent 
philanthropy, whose life was most aetively and perseve- 
ringly devoted to promote the best interests of his species, 
under a deep sense of his responsibility to God! His 
manners were singularly gentle, modest, and courteous ; 
but, in a cause which he deemed important, involving the 
rights of his fellow-men, he was no less bold and intrepid. 
Every one in Great Britain knows that if, in the present 
day, “ Her soil is freedom to the feet of slaves or, as 
another writer has happily expressed it, “ Our air has 
become loo pure to be breathed by slaves it is to the 
constancy and intrepidity of Granville Sharp, that we are 
indebted for this signal blessing. It was, moreover, to 
his humanity and patriotism, that the glorious ** Society 
for abolishing the Slave Trade,” owes its origin. Having 
lived a temperate and regular life, his declining age, like 
the evening of a summer’s day, was calm and clear; and 
he will be ranked by an enlightened posterity with our 
Hampdens, Marvels, Firmins, Howards, Hanways, and 
Raikeses. (See Index; also May 1, 1807; and Bourn’s 
Gazetteer, 3rd edit. art. Granville Town.) A very hand¬ 
some monument has been erected in the Poets’ Corner, 
Westminster Abbey, to the memory of Granville Sharp, 
and a bust of this patriot was placed, in 1826, in the 
Council-room at Guildhall. The following inscription is 
on the slab: 

“Granville Sharp; to whom England owes the glorious 
verdict of her highest court of law, that the slave who sets 
his foot on British ground becomes at that instant free.” 

7, 1307- Edward I. died at Burgli-upon-Sands, near Car¬ 
lisle, in Cumberland, in the 69th year of his age and 35th 
of his reign, and was succeeded by his son Edward II. 
He was buried in Westminster Abbey. The wisdom and 
equity he manifested entitled him to the appellation of the 
Justinian of his country. Edward was one of the best 


* A popular poet has said, 

Slaves cannot breathe in England; when their lungs 
Receive our air, that moment they are free : 

They touch our country, and their shackles fall. 
That’s noble, and bespeaks a nation proud 
And jealous of the blessing. 








JULY. 


257 


and most accomplished knights of Europe, and perhaps 
the best leader of an army of his time. The high-minded 
Plantagenet was also one of the most ambitious and the 
least scrupulous of men. 

7, 1713. Expired, at his palace at Fulham, aged 81, 
Henry Compton, bishop of London, a prelate eminent 
for virtue and piety. He was interred in the churchyard, 
according to his particular direction ; for he used to say, 
that “ the church is for the living, and the churchyard 
for the dead .” The great Sir Matthew Hale was accus¬ 
tomed to use the same expression, and gave directions 
that the place of his own interment should be the church¬ 
yard of Alderley, a village three miles from Wooton-under- 
Edge, and twenty-two south of Gloucester.* See Arith. 
Quest., St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Ray, Index. 


* The ancients had not that indecent and unwholesome cus¬ 
tom which now prevails, of crowding all their dead in the midst 
of their towns and cities, within the narrow precincts of a place 
reputed sacred, much less of amassing them in the bosom of their 
fanes and temples. The burying places of the Greeks and Ro¬ 
mans were at a distance from their towns. The Romans had 
their burying-grounds near the highways, hence the propriety of 
the inscription on tombs: Siste Viator,—Stay, Traveller ;— 
traveller, thou who art pursuing thy journey on the road of life 
with such eagerness, stop and pause for a moment, and contem¬ 
plate that bourne to which, in common with thy fellow-mortals, 
thou art rapidly hastening! The Jews had their sepulchres in 
gardens, f in fields, and among rocks and mountains X The 
graves in which they chose to be deposited, were commonly in 
solitary and unfrequented places. The present practice was in¬ 
troduced by the Romish clergy, who pretended that the defunct 
enjoyed great and peculiar privileges by having their remains 
placed in consecrated ground. The burving-places of the Turks 
are handsome and agreeable, which is owing chiefly to the many 
fine plants that grow in them, and which they carefully place over 
their dead. Dr. Hasselquist, a Swedish physician and traveller, 
observes, that these people are much more consistent than the 
Christians, in thus burying their dead without the town, and 
planting over them such vegetables as, by their aromatic and bal¬ 
samic smell, can drive away the fatal odours with which the air 
is impregnated in such places. 1 am persuaded, he adds, that by 
this they escape many misfortunes which affect Christians, in 
consequence of their wandering and dwelling continually among 
the dead. No place, says the pious and philosophic Evelyn, can 
be more fit to bury our dead in, than our gardens, groves, or 


t See Jolm xix. 41. 


* See Mark v. 5, and Matt, xxvii. 60. 







258 


JULY. 


7, 1791. Expired, at Edinburgh, in the 70th year of his 
age. Dr. Thomas Blacklock, an eminent Scottish poet 
and divine, whose talents, very respectable in themselves, 
were rendered very extraordinary by the circumstance ol 
his having been totally deprived of his sight by the small¬ 
pox, at six months old. The writings of Dr. Blacklock 
consist principally of poems. He is also said to have 
contributed much to the second edition of the Encyclo¬ 
paedia Britannica , and to have been one of the principal 
guides of the proprietors. The Preface, the article 
Blind, and the notes to the article Music, in particular, 
are attributed to him. Dr. Blacklock was born at Annan, 
in the county of Dumfries, in the south of Scotland. See 
Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Blind. 

■— 1799. Died, at Chelsea, William Curtis, the cele¬ 
brated botanist, author of Flora Londinensis , Botanical 
Magazine, and other valuable and much-esteemed works. 
He formed an extensive botanical garden at Brompton, 
(a village near the western part of the metropolis,) which 
was opened for the advantage of his pupils and the scien¬ 
tific, at a small annual subscription. He was born about 
the year 1/46, at Alton, a place nearly sixteen miles 
north-east of Winchester, on the Wey, Hampshire. 

— 1816. Died, at his house in Saviile Row, Westminster, 
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, one of the most accoin- 


airy fields, where our beds may be decked and carpeted with ver¬ 
dant and fragrant flowers, trees, and perennial plants, the most 
natural and instructive hieroglyphics of our own resurrection and 
immortality.* The Germans, says Dr. Render, in his Tour, have 
begun to remove the burying-place a mile or two from every 
city or town, and have substituted for the offensive cemetery an 
agreeable kind of garden, more calculated to inspire calm de¬ 
votion than sentiments of horror. See March 14, 1803, and 
July 2, 1805. 

There, no dark cypress casts a doleful gloom, 

No blighting yew sheds poison o’er the tomb ; 

But, white and red with intermingling flowers, 

The grave looks beautiful in sun and showers; 

Green myrtles fence it, and beyond their bound 
Runs a clear rill with ever-murmuring sound ; 

’Tis not a scene for grief to nourish care, 

It breathes of hope, and moves the heart to prayer. 

Montgomery. 


* See some admirable observations on this subject in Eyelyn’s 

Sylva.. 





JULY. 


259 


plished men ever known in this country; having evinced 
talents of the most splendid kind in the multifarious 
characters of a poet, a prose-writer, a dramatist, an ora¬ 
tor, and a legislator. He was born in Dublin in 1751, 
but received his education at Harrow School, near Lon¬ 
don. He was interred in the Poets’ Corner in West- 
minster-Abbey, near to Dr. Johnson, Garrick, and Cum¬ 
berland ; and bequeathed at his death — all he had to 
bequeath—the fame of extraordinary wit, taste, and elo¬ 
quence, to his family (a widow and two sons); while to 
mankind he has left the instructive lesson, that even these 
are but little useful to the world, and pernicious to the 
owner, without tirmness, moderation, and prudence. 

The School for Scandal, the Duenna, and the Critic , 
attest his superiority on the stage, and the praises of his 
contemporaries bear witness to his matchless triumphs in 
the senate. The vicissitudes, however, which he expe¬ 
rienced in the decline of life, render his history a lesson 
as useful in its warnings as ever genius and errors have 
bequeathed to mankind. He who was once the boon 
companion of princes, the ornament of the House of 
Commons, the light of private societies, “ the observed 
of all observers,” wherever he appeared, was seen aban¬ 
doned by almost every friend in the world, subjected to 
the profanation of a prison, and even in liis dying hour 
dependent on the hand of charity for the scanty main¬ 
tenance which he required. 

Mr. R. B. Sheridan was the son of Mr. Thomas She¬ 
ridan, well known both as an actor and a lecturer on 
elocution : he also wrote several works connected with 
education; the principal one is a Dictionary of the En¬ 
glish Language, in which all the words are properly ac¬ 
cented, according to his standard. He died at Margate 
in 1788. 

8, The festival of Aquila and Priscilla is placed in the 
Roman calendar. Aquila was a native of Pontus,* in 
Asia Minor, and was converted by St. Paul, together with 
his wife Priscilla, or Prisca.f As Aquila was by trade a 
tent-maker, as well as St. Paul, the apostle lodged with 
him at Corinth. The house of this excellent couple was 
so well regulated, that St. Paul calls it a church. Aquila 
came thither, not long before, from Italy, being obliged 


* See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 
f See Acts xviii. 1, 2, &c. 






260 


JULY. 


to leave Rome by tbe edict of the emperor Claudius, who 
had banished all the Jews from that city. When St. Paul 
left Corinth, Aquila and Priscilla accompanied him to 
Ephesus, where he left them to profit that church by their 
instructions and example, while he himself went to Jeru¬ 
salem. They did him great services in this city, and even 
exposed their own lives to preserve his.* They were re¬ 
turned to Rome when the apostle wrote his Epistle to the 
Romans, wherein he salutes them with great encomiums.+ 
Lastly, they were come back to Ephesus again when he 
wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy, wherein he desires 
him to salute them in his name.J What became of them 
afterwards is not known. The Greeks call Aquila bishop 
and apostle, and honour him July 12 or 14. See Sept. 3. 

S, 1174. Henry II., dreading the power of the Pope, did 
penance in Canterbury Cathedral, to make atonement to 
the ashes of Becket, and tender his submission to a dead 
enemy. As soon as he came within sight of the church, 
he dismounted, walked barefoot towards it, prostrated 
himself before the shrine of the saint, remained in fasting 
and prayer during a whole day, watched all night the holy 
reliques, and, finally, presented his bare shoulders to be 
scourged by the lashes of a chapter of monks. The next 
day he received absolution. 

That young persons may form an idea of the great 
deference which was paid to the Roman Pontiff about this 
period, we shall transcribe the following anecdote from 
Hume: “When Louis, king of France, and Henry II. of 
England, met Pope Alexander III. at the castle of Torci, 
on the Loire, they both dismounted to receive him, and 
holding each of them one of the reins of his bridle, walked 
on foot by his side, and conducted him in that submissive 
manner into the castle !”§ But, tempora mutantur—the 
times are changed ,—this pretended representative of 
Jesus Christ having recently experienced the greatest 
mortifications. His bulls || and excommunications, once 


* See Romans xvi 4, written A. D. 58. ■f' Ibid. 

X See 2 Tim. iv. 19, written A. D. 65. 

§ Henry once humiliated himself so far as to hold the stirrup 
of that haughty prelate Becket, while he mouuted. Hume. 

11 Laws or decrees made by the Pope are called bulls : a word 
derived from bulla , a seal, or from bailee, a sort of ornament 
worn round the neck by the young nobility of Rome. Those 



JULY. 


261 


the terror of Europe, * * have been laughed at; and his 
pardonsf and indulgences, heretofore purchased with the 
greatest avidity, are not now accepted even gratis. True 
it is, that the Pope has been unexpectedly restored, and 
has introduced the despotism of old times into the govern¬ 
ment of the church: but his efforts will be vain—the un¬ 
limited power of papal bulls is over; decrees to lock up 
the intellect, or terrify into silence the spirit of freedom, 
will be nugatory: 

Blest with freedom unconfined ; 

Dungeons cannot hold the soul : 

Who can chain th’ immortal mind ? 

None but He who spans the pole. 

Montgomery. 

8, 1249. Alexander II., king of Scotland, died on the 
island of Kerrera, near the coast of Argyleshire, in the 


bullae came afterwards to be hung to the diplomas of emperors 
and popes, from whence, according to Arbuthnot, they had the 
name of bulls. This pendent seal, which, properly speaking, is 
the bull, is made of lead, and is impressed on one side with the 
heads of St. Peter and St. Paul, and on the other with the name 
of the Pope and the year of his pontificate. 

* Excommunication is an ecclesiastial anathema, censure, in¬ 
terdict, or exclusion from Christian fellowship. It was originally 
instituted for preserving the purity of the church ; but ambitious 
ecclesiastics converted it by degrees into an engine for promoting 
their own power. Excommunicated persons forfeited all their 
natural and legal rights aud privileges, and were excluded from 
all kinds of offices. . Thus was an excommnnicated king reduced 
to the condition of a private man. 

Thou shalt stand curst and excommunicate ; 

And blessed shall he be, that doth revolt 
From his allegiance to an heretic. 

Shakspeare. 

f Pardons and indulgences were grants from the Pope to indi¬ 
viduals, for the remission of all sins, past, present , or to come. 
They were often carried about by persons styled pardoners, who 
sold them to the best bidder. A long list of indulgences, or fees 
of the Pope’s chancery, may be seen in a book printed 150 years 
ago, by the authority of the then Pope. It has been translated 
into English, under the title of Rome a great Custom-House for 
Sin: from which some extracts are given in Guthrie’s Geog. 
Gram. The price of a pardon for killing a father, mother wife, 
or sister, was ten shillings aud sixpence ! 



262 


JULY. 


fifty-first year of his age, and the thirty-fifth of his 
reign, ancl was buried at Melrose. He was one of the 
best and wisest monarchs that ever swayed the Scottish 
sceptre. Steady and magnanimous, brave, just, and pious, 
he maintained the rights of the kingdom against foreign 
aggression and internal feuds; he was the shield of the 
church, the protector of the people, and the refuge of the 
miserable.— Stewart’s Hist, of Scot. 

8, 1533. Died, at Ferrara, in the north-east part of Italy, 
the celebrated Italian poet, Lewis Ariosto, whose prin¬ 
cipal work, entitled “ Orlando Furioso,” has been honour¬ 
ed with “ numerous translations and commentaries.” 
Ariosto’s attachment to poetry, however, did not so far 
engage him, but that he was also employed in embassies 
and the management of public affairs in Italy. He was 
born at the castle of Reggio, in Lombardy, in 1474. 

— 1709. Was fought the memorable battle of Pultowa, 
a strong town in the south part of Russia, in which 
Charles XII., King of Sweden, was entirely defeated by 
the Czar of Muscovy, Peter the Great, and obliged to take 
refuge at Bender, a town of Bessarabia, in the Turkish 
dominions. 

Hide, blushing glory !—hide Pultowa’s day— 

The vanquished hero leaves his broken bands, 

And shews his miseries in distant lands ; 

Condemn’d a needy suppliant to wait, 

While ladies interpose, and slaves debate. 

Johnson’s Imit. of Juvenal. 

The vanquished monarch would himself have fallen into 
the hands of the Czar after the engagement, had he not 
been saved by the personal exertions of the brave Count 
Poniatowski, a Polish nobleman.* This distinguished 
personage died in his own country, about the year 1758, 
at an advanced age, in eminent reputation for his talents 
and virtues. The last king of Poland was liis second son. 
See Feb. 11, 1791. 

— 1797* Died, at Beaconsfield, in Buckinghamshire, 
Edmund Burke, a most eminent English orator and 
politician. He was born in Dublin, Jan. 1, 1730, and 
received the early part of his education at Balytore, near 
Carlow. Coming over to England, and procuring a seat 
in parliament, he displayed most extraordinary mental 


* History of Charles XII. by Voltaire. 



JULY. 


263 


powers, and was for many years considered as a firm 
friend of the liberties, and most warm and eloquent de¬ 
fender of the rights, of the people: in the latter part of 
his life, however, finding patriotism an unsubstantial 
good, he preferred “ solid pudding to empty praise,’’ 
deserted his dearest political friends, became a pensioner 
of the crown, and an eager supporter of the very adminis¬ 
tration which he had so often condemned with the great¬ 
est severity and virulence! 

Mr. Burke must, however, be considered as a man of 
most splendid talents. His “Essay on the Sublime and 
Beautiful,” and his “Treatise on Civil Society,” a work 
written when his views of life were unsophisticated by 
commerce with the world, manifest an intimate acquaint¬ 
ance with philosophic truth, advocated by a mental 
strength of the very first quality; and there are in his 
political writings a brilliant imagery, an impassioned 
eloquence, and a classical illustration, which will render 
them attractive, and secure for the writer a permanent 
niche in the Temple of Fame. This illustrious author 
was one of that galaxy of genius and learning which 
was dignified by the names of Johnson, Goldsmith, and 
Reynolds; and he was a prime ornament of the “nodes 
cosnceque Deorum,—the nights and the suppers of the 
Gods,” in the mansion of our British Apelles. In fine, 
if the name of Burke does not descend to prosperity as 
that of the most consistent character of his time, it will 
yet be regarded as that of a man who was one of the 
most transcendent geniuses of his own or of any other age. 

9, 1386. Battle of Sempach. The heroic Swiss 
gained a celebrated victory at Sempach, in the canton of 
Lucern, in which Leopold II., Duke of Austria, was 
slain. (Bourn’s Gazetteer.) The anniversary of this 
battle, which established the Swiss liberty, is still com¬ 
memorated with great solemnity at Sempach, in a chapel 
built expressly for the purpose of offering up their public 
thanksgivings. A solemn mass* is performed, an oration 


* Mass, in the Romish church, is the office or prayers used at 
the celebration of the eucharist, and is in general believed to be a 
representation of the passion of our Saviour. Hence every part 
of the service is supposed to allude to the particular circumstances 
of his passion and death. The general division of masses con¬ 
sist in high and low : the first is that sung by the choristers, and 
celebrated with the assistance of a deacon and sub-deacon ; low 
masses are those in which the prayers are barely rehearsed with¬ 
out singing. 





264 


JULY. 


suitable to the occasion is pronounced, the magistrates 
attend the service, and the republic of Lucern defrays the 
expense. Festivals and games were instituted among 
the Greeks to keep alive the heroic deeds of their ances¬ 
tors ; and, where the spirit of liberty is to be preserved, 
perhaps no means are more effectual than those of the 
periodical commemoration of great events. 

9,* * * § 149/. Vasco de Gama, a famous Portuguese admi¬ 
ral, sailed from Belem near Lisbon on his voyage to the 
East-Indies, by the Cape of Good Hope,f which he dou¬ 
bled on the 20th of November, landed at Calicut]; the 
22nd of May, 1498, and returned to Lisbon, September 
14, 1499, after performing a voyage, the most difficult, 
as well as the longest that had ever been made since the 
first invention of navigation; having been absent two 
years, two months, and five days.§ The discovery of a 


* Harris, in his Collection of Voyages, says it was on the 9th, 
that Gama sailed ; and Mickle, in his introduction to the Lusiad , 
mentions the 8th, Dr. Vincent the 18th, and the poet himself, if 
a little poetical license were not allowed to poets, would make us 
believe that it was still later in the month, as in the 5th Book 
he says. 

From Leo now,|| the lordly star of day, 

Intensely blazing, shot his fiercest ray; 

When slowly gliding from our wishful eyes, 

The Lusian mountains mingled with the skies ; 

Tago’s loved stream, and Cintra’s mountains cold, 

Dim fading now, we now no more hehold ; 

And still with yawning hearts our eyes explore, 

Till one dim speck of land appears no more. 

t Bartholomew Dias called this lofty promontory, which bounds 
Africa to the South, (and which, in 1486, terminated his voyage 
southwards) Cabo Tormentoso , or the stormy cape ; but the King 
of Portugal, his master, as he now entertained no doubt of hav¬ 
ing found the long-desired route to India, gave it a name more 
inviting, and of better omen, The Cape of Good Hope. See Sept. 
16, 1795. 

+ Calicut, Calecut, or Callicut, was then the capital of the Za- 
morin, or emperor of that part of India, and the most flourishing 
city on the Malabar coast, though it is now greatly decayed. It 
is from this place that calicoes take their name. 

§ See December 24, 1525. 


II The sun enteis Leo, July 23d. See Exer. on the Globes, 11th edit, 
p. 8. 





JULY. 


265 


passage to the East by the Cape of Good Hope is one of 
the most important events in modern history. It divert¬ 
ed the tide of Eastern commerce from the Italian states 
to the more northern parts of Europe. Hence the de¬ 
cline of \ r enice from her commercial and maritime gran¬ 
deur. 

9, 1762. The Empress of Russia, Catharine II., effected a 
revolution by entering Petersburgh with an armed force. 
Peter, her husband, renounced the crown the next day, 
and the unfortunate monarch died in prison just a week 
after his resignation ; thus verifying the remark, that “ the 
interval is short between a kingly prison and a grave.” 
See July 1/, 1/62. 

— 1816. A declaration of independence was published at 
Buenos Ayres, in which the country of La Plata or Pa¬ 
raguay assumes the title of the United Provinces of South 
America. 

— 1829. W. T. Fitzgerald died at Dudley Grove, Pad¬ 
dington. He was one of the earliest and warmest sup¬ 
porters of the Literary Fund, founded by the late David 
Williams, for the relief of distressed authors, their widows 
and children. For the long period of thirty-two years 
Mr. Fitzgerald never omitted attending the anniversaries 
of this laudable society, and constantly favoured the com¬ 
pany with a poem and recitation. 

10, 1212. A dreadful fire happened at both ends of Lon- 
don-Bridge ; a disastrous event which caused the death 
of above 3000 persons. It is generally agreed that there 
was a wooden bridge over the Thames at London as early 
as 1052, erected probably by the Danes, about 993. This 
bridge was washed away on the 16th of November, 1091. 
Another was erected of wood in the reign of William 
Rufus, and the first stone bridge by Peter of Colechurch, 
in 1176. 

London-Bridge had formerly several houses upon it that 
were tenanted by shopkeepers. An order for their re¬ 
moval, which was issued by the city in 1758, was executed 
with great expedition, and the bridge repaired.. It having, 
however, rapidly decayed, a new one is now being erected 
about 170 feet west of the present structure. 

— 1472. On this day Charles the Bold, Duke of Bur¬ 
gundy, who had invested Beauvais with an army of 80,000 
men, was compelled to raise the siege. The women, un¬ 
der the conduct of Jeane Hachette, particularly signa¬ 
lized themselves in this famous siege: and, in memory of 
their noble exploits on that occasion, they walk first in a 

N 


266 


JULY. 


procession on the anniversary of their deliverance. Beau¬ 
vais is situated in the province of the Isle of France, de¬ 
partment of Oise, about forty miles north of Paris. The 
inhabitants make beautiful tapestry. 

10, 1659. Henry II. of France died at Paris, of a wound 
received in the right eye in a tournament, in the 41st year 
of his age and 13th of his reign.* He was esteemed by 
those who had access to his person, and was generally 
polite and just, but believed it was his duty to persecute 
the Calvinists. See June 29. 

— 1.584. William I., Prince of Orange, f was treacher¬ 
ously murdered at Delft,]; in the United Provinces, by a 
fanatic named Balthazar Gerrard, a Burgundian by birth, 
and a domestic in his highness’s family* The Prince had 
been proscribed by the tyrant Philip II., King of Spain, 
who had even promised a reward of 25,000 crowns to any 
one who should bring him the Prince of Orange, dead or 
alive. William was succeeded by his son, Maurice de 
Nassau, then only eighteen years of age, but his courage 
and abilities were greatly above his years. He was ap¬ 
pointed Captain General, and afterwards Stadtholder of 
the United Provinces: and by the indefatigable exertion 
of his splendid talents, he reared that edifice of liberty of 
which his father had laid the foundation. This Prince, at 
his death, which happened in 1625, enjoyed the reputa¬ 
tion of the greatest warrior of his time. 

— 1796. Expired, in his sixty-fourth year, David Rit- 
tenhouse, a celebrated American Philosopher, whose 
discoveries tended greatly to the general diffusion of sci¬ 
ence in the western world. He succeeded the illustrious 
Dr. Franklin in the office of President of the Philosophi¬ 
cal Society of Philadelphia. 


* Audomare, Audamarie, or Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pem¬ 
broke, was killed in one of the fashionable barbarisms of that 
age, on the day that he was married to Maria, or Mary, daughter 
of Guido de Chatillon, Earl of St. Paul, of whom Fuller says, 
that she was a maid, wife, and widow, all in a day. To this cir¬ 
cumstance our poet Gray alludes in his Ode for Music: 

And sad Chatillon, on her bridal morn 
That wept her bleeding love. 

She was the founder of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, and died 
in 1377. 

t See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. 

X See Exer. on tlbe Globes, art. Canis Major. 



JULY. 


267 


10, 1809. Our late venerable Monarch, George III., 
gave a hundred pounds, and on the 6th of November fol¬ 
lowing a similar sum, towards the support of Mr. Lan¬ 
caster’s schools for the education of the poor, the most 
numerous class in the country, the sinews of its strength, 
or the rapid movers of its dissolution. It has been proved 
by the experience of ages, that education is the principle 
of good or evil in man ; and attention to the instruction of 
the populace is, therefore, the only true ground of domes¬ 
tic policy: for a nation can only be lastingly great in 
proportion to its virtue; and its virtue is not comprised 
in that of a few individuals, but must comprehend the in¬ 
tegrity of the greater mass of the people at large. 

11, 1/08. The Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eu¬ 
gene obtained a great victory over the French, at Aude- 
nard, or Oudenarde, on the Scheld, Netherlands. 

— 1/97- Died the Father of the English stage, Charles 
Macklin, at the age of ninety-seven, or as stated by Mr. 
Kirkman, in his Memoirs of this veteran, in his hundred 
and seventh year. He was born in the North of Ireland, 
and, coming over to England at little more than twenty 
years of age, he travelled in strolling parties of players in 
various counties: at length, in 1725, he came to London, 
where, with various interruptions and changes, he con¬ 
tinued to act till the 10th of January, 1790, being a period 
of sixty-five years. On that evening, while performing 
his famous character of Shylock, his memory so entirely 
failed him, that, making an apology to the audience, he 
finally quitted the stage. 

Of no distemper, of no blast he died, 

But fell like autumn fruit that mellow’d long ; 

E’en wonder’d at because he dropp’d no sooner. 

Fate seemed to wind him up for fourscore years, 

Yet freely run he on ten winters more; 

Till, like a clock worn out with calling time, 

The wheels of weary life at last stood still. 

Dryden’s (Edipus. 

Macklin is buried in St. Paul’s church, Covent-Gar- 

• den, and a tablet, with some verses, is affixed to his 
memory. 

_ 1804. General Hamilton, of New York, was killed 

in a duel with Mr. Burr, Vice-President of the United 
States. The national regret long hung with fond, endur- 
ing grief on the irreparable loss which America most 
dearly sustained by the death of this genuine patriot. 
How much is it to be regretted, that the barbarous cus- 

n 2 


268 


JULY. 


tom of duelling should be endured in countries which 
boast of civilization and the blessings of religion! The 
professors of Christianity, at least, should adopt the glo¬ 
rious resolution of the brave Colonel Gardiner, on a simi¬ 
lar occasion,* and discountenance an irreligious practice 
which is unsanctioned by any principle of common sense. 

He’s truly valiant, that can wisely suffer 
The worst that man can breathe, and make his wrongs 
His outsides ; to wear them, like his raiment, carelessly. 
And ne’er prefer his injuries to his heart, 

To bring it into danger. 

Shakspeare. 

11, 1807. The first stone of the Asylum for the Deaf 
and Dumb was laid in the Kent Road, by his Royal 
Highness William, Duke of Gloucester, when the Rev. 
Dr. Yates read a suitable prayer, and the Rev. J. Towns¬ 
end delivered an admirable address to a numerous au¬ 
ditory. See Feb. 7, and March 24. 

A heathen poet thought, that 

To instruct the deaf, no art could ever reach, 

No care improve them, and no wisdom teach. 

It is now proved, however, that though the time is not 
yet arrived, so beautifully expressed by the Twickenham 
bard, when he who at his second coming 

Th’ obstructed paths of sound shall clear, 

And bid new music charm th’ unfading ear, 

these afflicted objects, by the contributions of a sym¬ 
pathizing public, and the judicious treatment of the late 
Dr. Watson, are not only capable of being taught, but of 
conveying instruction to others. 

12, 1543. The nuptials of Henry VIII. and Catharine 
Parr were solemnized at Hampton-Court. Catharine 
Parr was the sixth and last wife of Henry. She survived 
him. See Sept. 5, 1548, and Miscell. Quest, in Eng. 
Hist. 

— 1691. Battle of Aghrim. The British forces, under 
General Ginkle,f defeated the Irish army, commanded 
by General St. Ruth, who was himself slain, together with 
seven thousand of his men, while the English lost only 
six hundred. This engagement proved decisively fatal to 
the interests of James II. in Ireland; and the anniversary 


* See September 21, 1745. 


t See July 1,1691, 



JULY. 


269 


of the fortunate day is still observed at Dublin with great 
demonstrations of joy. Aghrim is a small village near 
Clonfert, in Galway, in the province of Connaught. 

12, 1810. Captain Barclay finished his walking 1000 
miles in 1000 successive hours at Newmarket. A Mr. 
Podgers walked fifty miles a day for eight succeeding 
days. Lithgow, a native of Lanerk, in Scotland, spates, 
that in the course of his travels on foot over Europe, 
Asia, and Africa, he walked upwards of 36,000 miles.* * * § 

There were anciently messengers in the East, who 
sometimes ran on foot a hundred and fifty miles in less 
than twenty-four hours; hence the propriety and energy 
of Job’s observation, “ My days are swifter than a post.” 
Job ix. 25. See Burder’s Orient . Customs; Arith. 
Quest, art. Pedestrian Expedition, and Shoes: also May 
3, 1758. 

— 1808. Sir Arthur Wellesley sailed from Cork with 
a British army to commence operations in Portugal against 
the French, who had invaded that country. He landed 
near the Mondego river, and after a long and bloody con¬ 
test, succeeded in driving the enemy from Portugal and 
Spain. For this and other military achievements he re¬ 
ceived the title of Duke of Wellington. See August 21, 
1808, and July 28, 1809. 

13. Feast of St. Silas or Sylvanus. Silas was, according 
to St. Luke, one of the chief men among the brethren; f 
which gives room to judge, that he was one of the num¬ 
ber of the seventy. He is believed to be the person men¬ 
tioned by the name of Sylvanus, in the two Epistles of St. 
Paul to the Thessalonians. St. Peter sent his first Epistle 
by him from Rome, wherein he styles him a faithful bro¬ 
ther. Silas joined himself to St. Paul; and after Paul 
and Barnabas had parted, on account of John Mark,* 
Silas went with St. Paul to visit the churches of Syria and 
Cilicia; thence they passed into Lycaonia, Phrygia, and 
Galatia; and lastly, they crossed the sea, and came into 
Macedonia. At Philippi they found a pagan servant maid 
who was possessed with a spirit of Python, § from which 


* An account of this extraordinary man may be seen in Mor¬ 

gan’s Phoenix Britannicus , and Bourn's Gazetteer , art. Lanerk. 

f Acts xv. 22. X Acts xv. 37—41. 

§ Acts xvi. 16. The Greeks, it is said, surnaraed Apollo 
Python, because he destroyed the monstrous serpent Python. 
Others, however, imagine that the story of Python was a fable 
grounded on Apollo killing one who for his cruelty was called 
Python, that is, serpent or dragon; whence Apollo had the 





270 


JULY. 


St. Paul dispossessed her. Hereupon her masters, who 
had gained much by her fortune-telling, seized Paul and 
Silas, dragged them before the magistrates, and ac¬ 
cused them of introducing customs contrary to those of 
the Romans. The magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to 
be publicly whipped and imprisoned. In the night there 
was a great earthquake; and the jailer was converted and 
received baptism with his whole family. The day follow¬ 
ing, the magistrates sent orders to liberate Paul and Silas; 
but Paul replied, that Roman citizens were not to be used 
thus with impunity, and that the magistrates themselves 
should come and release them. These words of St. Paul 
afford room to conjecture that Silas was also a freeman of 
Rome. From Philippi they went to Thessalonica and 
Berea. St. Paul proceeding to Athens, he sent for Silas 
thither, who, however, did not join him again till they 
met at Corinth, A. D. 52: here they wrote the two Epis¬ 
tles to the Thessalonians. Silas was very useful to Paul 
in preaching the gospel.* * He died, it is said, in Mace¬ 
donia, and also, it is hinted, by martyrdom. Some refer 
to Silas what St. Paul says to the Corinthians, 2 Cor. viii. 
18, 19. 

13, 1/93. That detestable monster in the human shape, 
Marat, the coadjutor of the blood-thirsty Robespierre, 
was assassinated at Paris by Charlotte Cordd, for which 
crime she was executed on the 17 th of the same month, 
and met her fate in the most heroic manner. Her last 
words were, “ ’Tis guilt makes shame, and not the scaf¬ 
fold.’^ 


name of Python or Pythius. (See Exer. on Globes, 11th edit, page 
132, uote, art. Apollo and Oracles.) As Apollo was regarded as 
the god of divination and oracles, those who were supposed to 
have the gift of foretelling future events were said to be tilled 
with the spirit of Python; an expression often used to signify 
fortune-tellers, magicians, and ventriloquists. The Latins called 
these last ventriloqui, and the Greeks, engastrimythoi, i. e. people 
that speak out of their bellies, or who have the art of throwing 
out the voice in an extraordinary manner, which has been prac¬ 
tised by some of late in our own country. See O’Burne (James) 
in Jones’s New Biog. Dict. y and Ency, Brit, art. Ventrilo¬ 
quism. 

* 2 Cor. i. 19. 

f Lord Chief Baron Gilbert once observed, “ That it was 
not the punishment, but the crime, that made a man infamous.” 
This gentleman abridged Locke’s fine Essay ou the Human Un¬ 
derstanding. 



JULY. 


271 


In reason it befits us to lament 

Suffering for guilt: not suffering undeserved. 

S Maks pea re’s Aphorisms . 

14, 1223. Philip II. of France died at Mantes, aged 59. 
He had reigned 43 years. His expulsion of the English, 
and his restoration of the crown to a high degree of re- 
spectability among the states of Europe, justly merited and 
confirmed to him the title of Augustus. See Mantes, 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1748. Happened a famous Solar Eclipse. The quan¬ 
tity eclipsed was about 10 digits. A digit is a twelfth 
part of the Sun’s diameter; so that, dividing that lumi¬ 
nary into twelve parts, ten of those parts must have ap¬ 
peared darkened by this eclipse. Its beginning was at 
three minutes after nine in the morning, and it ended 
nine minutes after twelve. During that time, the planet 
Venus made a beautiful appearance through telescopes, in 
the form of a crescent or new moon. 

— 1766- The Grand Trunk, or Staffordshire Canal, 
was begun under the direction of Mr. Brindley, in order 
to form a communication between the Mersey and Trent, 
and, of course, between the Irish Sea and the British 
Ocean. Branches from this Canal likewise communicate 
with Wolverhampton, Bewdley, Birmingham, Worcester, 
&c., and also with several other canals, more recently un¬ 
dertaken.* It may be observed of our canal navigation 
in general, that it is a public benefit to agriculture and 
trade; that it reduces the price of carriage, and thereby 
enables-us to meet our commercial competitors at foreign 
markets upon much better terms; that it preserves the 
public roads, and lessens the expense of keeping them in 
repair; that it advances the wealth and strength of the 
nation, by increasing the quantity of our home products 
and of our exports, and by finding employment for a 
greater number of vessels and seamen; that it diffuses a 
spirit of navigation through the very heart of the king¬ 
dom, and, by bringing many boys and youths from the in¬ 
land towns towards the sea-port towns, greatly augments 
the number of our sailors; that it finds constant employ 
for a vast number of people; and, lastly, that it has a ten¬ 
dency to prevent monopolies of the necessaries of life, 
by opening an extensive and cheap communication be- 


* See Phillips’s General Hist, of Inland Navigation; also, 
Canals and Brindley, Index. 




272 


JULY. 


tween the interior parts of the country and our manufac¬ 
turing towns, villages, and sea-ports. 

14, 1789. French Revolution. The Bastile, a most 
horrid prison in Paris, 

te Where deeds were done 

Unfit for mortal ear- 

— — Where mercy never came, 

“ Nor hope the wretch could fiud 

was destroyed in a few hours by the undaunted citizens, 
though it had been assailed in vain by Henry IV. and his 
veteran troops in the siege of Paris, during the intestine 
war which desolated France between the years 1587 and 
1594. The destruction of the Bastile is considered as the 
commencement of the French Revolution. 

This Revolution sprung from no conspiracy, but was 
the natural result of the measures pursued by the sove¬ 
reigns of that country, both in peace and war, for more 
than a century. The profligate extravagance of the court, 
which was ably backed by that of the clergy and noblesse, 
had entirely deranged the finance; the parliament had 
been alienated and rendered refractory by arbitrary inter¬ 
ference ; the people, by excessive imposts, poverty, inse¬ 
curity, and perpetual oppression. Undoubtedly, the dif¬ 
fusion of knowledge, principally promoted by the philo¬ 
sophers, contributed likewise to make the people more 
impatient of servitude, and to hasten resistance. 

— 1791. Commenced the Birmingham Riots, occasi¬ 
oned by some gentlemen having met at a tavern to cele¬ 
brate the anniversary of the French Revolution. Every 
friend to regular government must look with a mixture 
of abomination and contempt on the transactions of this 
day, which degraded the national character of England; 
when neither the learning, the piety, the public spirit, 
nor the private virtue of a Priestley, whose name is 
revered in every part of the globe where the light of sci¬ 
ence has penetrated, could protect him from the savage 
fury of the vilest of an ignorant and bigoted rabble, be¬ 
fore whom the religion of the country was dishonoured, 
the name of the Sovereign insulted, and all law and order 
levelled in the dust, to the disgrace of the magistrates and 
the spirit of the people, who were timid witnesses of the 
ravage and destruction. Previous to the conflagration of 
Dr. Priestley’s house, and the destruction of his extensive 
philosophical apparatus, the ruflian, the gossip, and the 
informer, among whom were some whose profession en- 



JULY. 


273 


titled them to the appellation of gentlemen, ransacked his 
papers and read his letters, which they obtained by infa¬ 
mously invading that asylum which the laws had made 
sacred even from the intrusion of the magistrate.* * * § It is 
well observed by the late learned Dr. Parr, that of the 
persons who suffered in these Riots, two or three were 
men of exemplary lives, and the rest were quite irre¬ 
proachable: a circumstance which, he adds, deserves 
serious consideration from all good men, of all religions, 
and all political parties. See Feb. 6, 1804. 

14, 1824. Riho Riho, or Tamehameha II., king of the 
Sandwich Islands, died in the Adelphi, Strand, Westmin¬ 
ster. His queen died about a week before. Their bodies 
were conveyed to the Sandwich Islands for interment. 

An interesting account of their reception and their fatal 
dissolution is given in the Monthly Review, 1827, the 
Literary Gazette, and Quarterly Review. 

15, Is the feast of Saint Swithin. St. Swithin lived in the 
ninth century, and having been preceptor to king Ethel- 
wulph, was by him promoted to the see of Winchester. 
By his advice, that monarch is said to have granted a 
charter of tithes to the church, which, as Rapin justly 
observes, was alone sufficient to give the bishop a saint- 
ship. But besides this, he is reported to have wrought 
many miracles, which, says Fox, the martyrologist,f “ 1 
leave to be read with the tales of Robin Hood.” The 
silly tradition, that if it rains on St. Swithin, it will rain 
forty days following, is supposed to have a shadow of rea¬ 
son only from the circumstance of some particular con¬ 
stellations, which have the character of portending rain,}; 
rising cosmically about the time of St. Swithin’s festival. 
Another vulgar adage relative to the weather is properly 
ridiculed in the following lines : 

Let cred'lous boys and prattling nurses tell. 

How, if the festival of Paul be clear. 

Plenty from lib’ral horn§ shall strow the year. 

Gay. 


* See Arith. Quest, art. An Englishman’s House is his Castle. 

f This pious man, a native of Boston, in Lincolnshire, closed 
his zealous life on the 18th of April, 1587, in the 70th year of 
bis age. 

X See Exer. on the Globes , art. Orion, Capella, and Dies Cani- 
culares; also Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Winchester. 

§ See Exer on the Globes , 11th edit, art. Cornucopia. 

n 3 




274 


JULY. 


15, 156/. At Carberry, near the fatal field of Pinkey, Mart 
Queen of Scots, unable to induce her army, by entreaties, 
reproaches, or threats, to fight the confederate lords and 
their followers, was under the necessity of surrendering 
herself into the hands of her rebellious subjects. See 
May 2, 1568. 

— 1685. James, Duke of Monmouth, was decapitated 
on Tower-Hill, in the 36th year of his age, being born at 
Rotterdam, in Holland, in the year 1649. His head was 
severed from his body at the fifth stroke by a timid and 
unskilful executioner, who probably sympathized with 
the weeping spectators. He was the illegitimate son of 
Charles II., by Lucy Walters, alias Brown low, and was the 
darling of the English people, whose good-will followed 
him in every fortune, and no one was ever attended to 
the scatfold with a more plentiful effusion of tears.* 
The illegal and brutal inhumanities to which the Duke’s 
followers were subjected, may be seen in all our Histo¬ 
ries of England. See also Arith . Quest, art. Jefferies. 
The Duke of Monmouth was buried under the commu¬ 
nion-table in the Tower Chapel. 

— 1802. Died, aged 26 years and 5 months, Thomas 
Dermody, whose attainments and genius surpassed almost 
all that literary biography has recorded of early intel¬ 
lectual acquisition and talent. The memoirs of this un¬ 
common genius, by James Grant Raymond, while they 
exhibit a most brilliant and rare example of natural 
endowments, very forcibly inculcate a lesson of morality 
and prudence, which cannot be too seriously urged on 
the attention of those, whether in the ardour of youth 
or the vigour of maturity, who think themselves pri¬ 
vileged, by superior intellectual qualifications, from the 
restrictive proprieties and decorums of life. His educa¬ 
tion was attentively cultivated by his father, (a school¬ 
master, at Ennis, in Ireland,) from whose example, 
however, he in his early years contracted a fatal and 
degrading attachment to drinking, which abundantly 
more than counterbalanced the advantages that he had 
received from the bountiful Author of nature, and con¬ 
fined him to a state of abject dependence and wretched 
poverty through almost the whole of his subsequent life. 
In his short career, his brilliant talents deservedly 


* His children were named Scott, he having married Lady 
Ann Scott, daughter of Francis, Earl Buccleugh. 



JULY. 


acquired him a series of benevolent and even splendid and 
munificent patrons ; whose favour, in succession, his 
perverse and incorrigible misconduct as deservedly lost: 
and he suffered on different occasions (.the results entirely 
of his imprudence) distress scarcely inferior to any thing 
that is told of Otway, of Chatterton, or of Boyse.* His 
dissipated life was at length closed in a wretched hovel 
at Sydenham, in Kent, by a disorder, the mere effect of 
incessant inebriation ; and he lies interred in the church¬ 
yard of Lewisham, with a monument erected over him, 
on which is inscribed a poetical epitaph taken from his 
own works. 

15, 1815. Napoleon, Emperor of France, was received 
on board the Bellerophon, commanded by Captain 
Maitland, and conveyed to England, whence he was con¬ 
veyed, without landing, to St. Helena, on board the Nor¬ 
thumberland. 

— 1817- Died the Baroness de Stael, daughter of 
Monsieur Necker, the celebrated French financier. She 
was a woman of extraordinary powers of mind, and was 
yet more distinguished for the filial devotion which she 
evinced towards her father. Her novels and political 
writings evince a deep acquaintance with human life. 
Her remains were removed from Paris, in which city she 
expired, to Coppet, where her father was buried in 1804. 
Coppet is about 10 miles north of Geneva, Switzerland. 
See Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

16, 622. The Hegira. The hegira in chronology is a 
celebrated epochaf used by the Arabs and Mohammedans 
for the computation of time. The word is Arabic, and 
denotes to fly, quit one's country, family, friends, Sfc. 
The event which gave rise to this epocha was Mohammed’s 


* Samuel Boyse was alike remarkable for ingenuity and im¬ 
prudence. He delighted in mean company, indulged himself in 
all the grovelling habits of low life, died in an obscure lodging 
near Shoe-Lane, London, and was buried at the expense of the 
parish ; a melancholy instance of the wretchedness, contempt, 
and disgrace to which the most ingenious persons may reduce 
themselves by an abuse of those powers with which God has en¬ 
dowed them. He was born in Dublin in 1708, and died in 1749. 
His most celebrated performance was a poem called the “Deity,” 
which is styled by Hervey, “ a beautiful and instructive poem.”— 
See Otway, Chatterton, Savage, Morland, and Burns, Index. 

f The principal epochas used in chronology are enumerated in 
the Arith. Quest, art. Chronology. 





2/6 


JULY. 


flight from Mecca.* The magistrates of that city, fearing 
that his impostures might raise a sedition, resolved to 
expel him : this, accordingly, they effected at the period 
above stated. (See Prideaux’s Life of Mahomet.') Their 
computation of time began with the new moon of that 
period, which is the reason of the great regard for cres¬ 
cents in the East, where every mosque is adorned with 
them. See Exer. on the Globes , art. Crescent. 

The system of religion broached by this impostor is 
called Mohammedism.f Its principles are contained in 
the Koran, a word of the same import with Bible; i. e. 
by way of eminence. The Book. The leading article 
of faith which this impostor preached is, as Mr. Gibbon 
remarks, compounded of an eternal truth and a neces¬ 
sary fiction ; namely. That there is only one God , and that 
Mahomet is the apostle of God. Death, slavery, tribute, 
to unbelievers, were the glad tidings of the Arabian pro¬ 
phet. The essence of his religion was implicit faith and 
ferocious energy. Hallam’s Middle Ages, II. 167. 

16, 1377* The young King Richard II. was crowned at 
Westminster. He was of the Plantagenet line. See 
Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist; also June 21, and Arith. 

Tables, p. 26. 

— 1546. Anne Askew was burnt alive in Smithfield, 
in the 26th year of her age, after having been first racked 
with the most savage cruelty in the Tower, for renouncing 
the errors of Popery. One of her biographers, who wit¬ 
nessed the unexampled sufferings of this amiable martyr, 
and beheld the affecting close of her life, says, that such 
a sweetness and serenity overspread her features at the 
moment she was brought to execution, that she absolutely 
appeared like an angel, divine. Anne Askew was the 


* Mecca is one of the most ancient cities in the world. It is 
situated in Arabia, about forty miles from the Red Sea, and is 
celebrated for having given birth to Mohammed. He was interred 
at Medina, a place which the Mohammedans dignify with the title 
of “ The City of the Prophet,” on account of the kind reception 
which Mohammed experienced there when he was driven from 
Mecca. 

+ Among the various ways of writing the name of the Arabian, 
Mahomet is the least proper; and it has been copied from the 
worst of all authorities in the spelling of foreign names, the 
French. But Mahomet«/iism is barbarous. Gibbon has more 
properly Mahometism. Mohaminedism is perferable. Eel. Rev . 
May 1st, 1829, p. 384. 



JULY. 277 

daughter of Sir William Askew, of Kelsey, in Lincoln¬ 
shire, at which place she was born, 
lfi, 1800. Died, at his seat near Southampton, aged 57, 
Bryan Edwards a native of Westbury, in Wiltshire, 
and author of an elegant “ History of the West Indies,” 
and other smaller productions connected with the islands 
in that part of the world. Mr. Edwards is interred in All- 
Saints* Church, Southampton; where also is buried Miss 
Stanley, whose early death is affectingly commemorated 
by Thomson in his Seasons. See Bourn’s Gaz- 
17, 1429. Charles VII., King of France, was crowned 
at Rheims, agreeably to the prediction of the Maid of Or¬ 
leans, who stood by his side in complete armour during 
the ceremony. 

-She bore on high 

Her hallow’d banner to the sacred pile. 

And fix’d it on the altar, whilst her hand 
Pour’d on the monarch’s head the mystic oil, 

Wafted of yore by milk-white dove from heaven 

(So legends say) to Clovis, when he stood 

At Rheims for baptism. Southey’s Joan (TArc. 

Charles VII. ascended the throne on the death of his fa¬ 
ther Charles VI., or the Silly , in 1422, but was not crowned 
at his accession, as Rheims, the usual coronation place, 
was in the possession of the English. The reason of this 
city having this honour may be seen in Bourn’s Gazet¬ 
teer , art. Rheims. 

— 1674. The bones of King Edward V. and his brother 
Richard, were discovered in the Tower. Charles II., 
pitying their severe fate, ordered the remains of these 
unhappy princes, in 1678, to be laid among the monu¬ 
ments of their predecessors in Westminster Abbey. They 
were smothered in July, 1483. See Arith. Quest, art. 
Richard III. 

— 1762. Peter III., husband of Catharine II., Empress 
of Russia, was deprived of his life while under an igno¬ 
minious confinement. Of the manner of the captive’s 
demise, various accounts have been in circulation. Some 
ascribe it to an hemorrhoidal colic, a disease until then 
unknown to Russian physicians. Others affirm, that his 
removal was effected by means similar to those which 
deprived our unfortunate Edward II. of life. History too 
well qualifies us to 

“ Tell sad stories of the death of kings : 

How some have been deposed ; some slain in war; 

Some poison’d by their wives ; some sleeping kill’d.” 


278 


JULY. 


But, in the present instance, who was instigator and who 
were perpetrators of the bloody deed, we pretend not to 
determine. It is, however, generally supposed, that if 
the deceased monarch’s ghost had been evoked during 
the Empress’s life-time, she would not, with all her “un¬ 
daunted spirit,” have ventured to address “ the blood- 
bolter’d” spectre, in the language of Macbeth— 

“ Thou canst not say I did it : never shake 
Thy gory locks at me.”* * 

When Paul came to the throne on the death of the Em¬ 
press his mother, he had his father’s body re-interred, 
and made two of his murderers act as chief mourners. 
See Bourn’s -Gazetteer, art. Petersburg^, note. 

18, 13/4. Died, at Arqua, near Padua, in the north of 
Italy, Francis Petrarch, a very learned Italian writer 
on poetry, history, and moral philosophy; but particu¬ 
larly celebrated for his enchanting sonnets, which first 
exalted Italian poetry to classic fame.f The chief subject 
of these exquisite poems is the beautiful Laura, near 
whom he resided many years at Vaucluse, a romantic and 
sequestered spot, fifteen miles from Avignon, in the south 
of France. £ Fie was bom at Arezzo, in Tuscany, in 
1304, and was employed by Pope John XX. in several 
affairs of importance both at Rome and in France. The 
excellency of his moral character may be inferred from 
the subsequent well-attested anecdote. Cardinal Colonna, 
in whose palace Petrarch resided at the time, having a 
quarrel in his household, and wishing to know the bottom 
of the affair, assembled all his people, and obliged them 
to take an oath on the gospels, that they would declare 
the truth. This was complied with, even by a bishop, the 
cardinal’s own brother; but when Petrarch presented 
himself to take the oath, the cardinal shut the book, and 
said, “Oh! as to you, Petrarch, your word is sufficient”§ 
The Athenians behaved in the same manner to Xeno- 
crates, the philosopher, whose integrity was so well 
known, that when he appeared in the court as a witness, 
the judges dispensed with his oath. || This illustrious 

* See July 9, 1762. 

f A view of Petrarch’s House is given in the Landscape An¬ 
nual, 1830, from a beautiful picture by Samuel Prout, Esq. 

* See April 6, 1348. 

§ See April 8, 1344, and Exer. on the Globes, art. Atticus. 
il Xenocrates was born at Chalcedon, a city of Asia, S. E. of 



JULY. 


279 

poet, who has been styled the Reviver of Italian Litera¬ 
ture, was found dead in his library with his hands on a 
book, on the 70tli anniversary of his birth. 

19, the festival of Epaphras, who, it is said, was the first 
bishop of Colosse. He was converted by St. Paul. He 
caine to Rome while that apostle was there in bonds, and 
was imprisoned with him. St. Paul calls Epaphras his 
dear fellow-servant, and a faithful minister of Christ, Col. 
i. 7- Some suppose that he suffered martyrdom at his 
native city of Colosse. 

— 1333. Edward III. defeated the Scots with great 
slaughter at Halidown Hill, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, 
when Archibald Douglas, their commander, was slain. 
He was the brother of Sir William, (by some called Sir 
James,) to whom Bruce entrusted his heart to convey it 
to the sepulchre at Jerusalem. No person of note fell on 
the side of England, or indeed fought in the engagement, 
the victory being entirely the w'ork of the English archers. 
See Eater, on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Sagitta. 

— 1554. Philip II., king of Spain, landed at South¬ 
hampton, and was married to the sanguinary Mary at Win¬ 
chester, on the 25th of the same month : an union to 
which a great part of the nation had with reason the ut¬ 
most aversion. 

— 1575. Began a most magnificent entertainment at 
Kenilworth Castle, a superb structure belonging to 
the Earl of Leicester, and situated nearly midway between 
Warwick and Coventry. See Arith. Quest., and Sept. 

21, 1327. 

— 1588. The Spanish Armada arrived in the English 
Channel, but was so soon after compelled to retreat, that 
the following laconic inscription on a medal which was 
struck on the occasion is nearly an exact account of that 
happy event: “ Venit , vidit , fugit ”—“ It came, saw, and 
fled.”* * The elements conspired its destruction .f 


Byzantium, (now Constantinople,) educated in the school of 
Plato, and died 314 years B. C., aged 82. See Lempriere’s 
Diet ., Eater, on the Globes , and Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

* An apt allusion to Ciesar’s “ Veni, vidi, vici”—“I came, 
saw, and conquereda phrase which that general used first in 
a letter, and subsequently as au inscription in a triumph, to 
denote the celerity with which he had subdued Pharuaces, the 
son of Mithridates, near Zela, in Pontus, and thereby concluded 
the war. 

t See the particulars in Arith. Quest, art. Arm^a 



280 


JULY. 


Navies, that rule the ocean wide, 

Are vanquish’d by God’s breath ; 

And legions, arm’d with pow’r and pride, 

Desceud to wat’ry death. Watts. 

19, 1/83. Expired, in the 66th year of his age, at Kidder¬ 
minster, the excellent Job Orton, an eminently useful 
and exemplary Dissenting Minister, well known in the 
religious world by his admirable practical writings ; and 
his life of Dr. Doddridge is allowed to be one of the best 
books of the kind in our language. He was interred at 
his native place, Shrewsbury, where he had been many 
years pastor of a numerous congregation* in connexion 
with the Rev. Joseph Fownes. See Nov. 7, 1789. 

— 1821. His Majesty, George IV., was crowned at West¬ 
minster. 

20, 1620. Commenced a general Massacre of the Pro¬ 
testants in the Valteline, a fertile valley of Switzerland. 
It began at Tirano, extended to all the towns of the dis¬ 
trict, and lasted three days. See Massacre, Index. 

— 1819. Died, at Edinburgh, John Playfair, professor 
in the University at that place. He was eminent as a 
geologist, as a mathematician, and as a geographer. He 
published a System of Geography, in 5 vols. 

21, 1403. Was fought the furious battle of Shrewsbury, 
between Henry IV. and his rebellious subjects. The 
Prince of Wales, whose military achievements were after¬ 
wards so renowned, here performed his noviciate in arms, 
and was wounded in the battle. The death of the gallant 
Hotspur,'|' son of the Duke of Northumberland, decided 


* When indisposition disabled Mr. Orton from public service, 
he closed his farewell sermon (which was on Eccles. vii. 2) with 
the following anecdote:—“The celebrated Grotius,* one of the 
most learned men the world ever knew, was in his last illness 
attended by a friend, who desired him, in his great wisdom and 
learning, to give him a short direction how to lead his life to the 
best advantage. To whom he only said —Be serious. This, said 
Mr. O. to his auditors, is my parting advice to you,— Be Seri¬ 
ous.”— Superna quaerite—esse quam videri—gravis dum suavis— 
graves disce mores. Seek heavenly things—to be, rather than 
to seem to be—serious, yet pleasant—acquire sedate manners. 
Such are the edifying mottos on the arms of a Worcestershire 
family. 

f Henry Percy, taken prisoner July 31, 1388, in the battle of 


* See Grotius, Index. 




JULY. 


281 


the victory in favour of the Royalists. In this desperate 
conflict there perished, on both sides, many persons of the 
greatest distinction, and about 6,000 private men. 

21, 1683. The virtuous Lord Russell was beheaded in 
Liucoln’s-Inn Fields. In an act of parliament which was 
passed in 1689, in the glorious reign of William III., the 
attainder of this illustrious nobleman was not only re¬ 
versed, but his death was deemed a murder. The patent 
conferring the dukedom upon Russell’s virtuous father, 
who had offered a large sum to save his son’s life, states 
the desire of their Majesties to record their sense of the 
“ consummate virtue of that ornament of his age, whose 
name could never be forgot so long as men preserved any 
esteem for sanctity of manners, greatness of mind, and a 
love of their country, constant even to deathand the 
new honours are stated to be conferred, “ to excite his 
son, the heir of such mighty hopes, to emulate and follow 
the example of his illustrious father.” ( Edin . Rev. Sept. 
1826, p. 402.) Russell and Sydney are names that will, 
it is hoped, (says Mr. Fox,) be for ever dear to every 
English heart. When their memory shall cease to be an 
object of respect and veneration, it requires no spirit of 
prophecy to foretell that English liberty will be fast ap¬ 
proaching to its final consummation. See Dec. 7, 1683; 
Sept. 29, 1729; and Arith. Quest, art. Russell. 

— 1779. The wife of a Bramin, or Indian priest, burnt 
herself publicly near Calcutta, on the funeral pile of her 
departed husband, in conformity to a barbarous, super¬ 
stitious custom which prevails among the Gentoo* * women 
of rank and condition. 


Otterburn, when the heroic Douglas, the Scotch general, was 
slain. 

* Gentoos, in modern history, according to the common ac¬ 
ceptation of the term, denote the professors of the religion of the 
Bramins or Brachmans, who inhabit the country of Hindostan, 
in Asia. The doctrine of transmigration is one of the distin¬ 
guishing tenets of the Gentoos. On this subject, it is their opi¬ 
nion, that those souls which have attained a certain degree of 
purity are removed to regions of happiness proportioned to their 
respective merits; but that others are condemned to undergo con¬ 
tinual punishments in the animation of successive animal forms for 
a stated period. They imagine there are six different spheres above 
this earth, the highest of which is the residence of Bhrima (God) 
and his particular favourites; and also the habitation of those 
men who never uttered a falsehood, and of those women who have 



282 


JULY. 


In climes remote where Ganges rolls his wave. 

At once the Indian’s idol, and his grave ! f 
A custom reigns which harrows up the soul. 

And bends e’en nature to its stern controul! 

When fate cuts short the Hindoo’s thread of life. 

One tomb engulphs the husband and the wife ; 

The widow, warm in youth, must yield her breath. 

And self devoted seek her lord in death ! 

In gay attire she mounts the awful pile, 

; Nor dares with tears the horrid rites defile ; 

Her heaving bosom must repress the sigh, 

And learn with Stoic apathy to die ; 

For should she yield to nature’s powerful sway, 

And not with smiles this Brahmin law obey ; 

Should she with horror shun the scorching flame, 

Eternal infamy awaits her name ! 

Fitzgerald. 

The dignified heroine who is the subject of this article, 
was about twenty-one years of age, tall, well made, and 
handsome ; and went through the whole of the dreadful 
scene with astonishing fortitude and self-possession. See 
the Ann. Register, 1783, p. 167. 

21, 1726. Expired Robert Burns, who, in the humble 
employment of a ploughman, discovered a most extra¬ 
ordinary genius for poetical composition : but this pupil 
of nature, this poet of inspiration, unfortunately possessed 
in the same degree the powers and the failings of genius. 


voluntarily burned themselves ivith their husbands; the propriety 
of which practice is expressly enjoined in the code of the Gentoo 
laws. Mr. Halhed, the translator of this code, observes, that few 
Christians have expressed themselves with a more becoming reve¬ 
rence of the grand and impartial designs of Providence in all its 
works, or with a more extensive charity towards all their fellow- 
creatures of every profession, than the Gentoos. It is indeed an 
article of faith among the Bramins, that God’s all-merciful power 
would not have permitted such a number of different religions, if he 
had not found a pleasure in beholding their varieties. See the Ency. 
Brit. art. Gentoos. 

•f Some of the Gentoos bury the body of the deceased ; others 
burn it; and such as can afford the expense, have their ashes col¬ 
lected together and put into an urn, which is soldered up and 
thrown into the Ganges, to the waters of which they attribute a 
peculiar sanctity. This river is visited annually by pilgrims from 
all parts of Hindostan, and it is customary with these people, 
when on the point of death, to be removed to its banks, or to 
some creek which runs into it. 




JULY. 


283 


His talents were often obscured, and his constitution was 
at length impaired, by an excessive attachment to liquor; 
hence the attentions of his admirers were withdrawn; and 
at the early age of thirty-eight, he closed, at Dumfries, in 
the south of Scotland, a chequered life, “ lost between 
good and ill,” in which virtue and passion had been at 
perpetual variance.* * * § He was born about two miles south 
of the town of Ayr; hence he is often styled the “ Ayr¬ 
shire Ploughman.” 

22, Mary Magdalen is thought to have received her name 
from the town of Magdala, in Galilee. She has been 
often confounded with Mary, the sister of Lazarus ; while 
others maintain that she is the sinner mentioned by Luke,f 
whose name he does not tell us. But the celebrated Dr. 
Lardner has shewn by a variety of learned remarks and 
quotations both from the Scriptures and the best com¬ 
mentators, that Mary Magdalen was not that person; but, 
on the contrary, that she was a woman of distinction, and 
very easy in her worldly circumstances. J For a while she 
had* laboured under some bodily indisposition, which our 
Lord miraculously healed, and for which benefit she was 
very thankful. So far as we know, her conduct was 
always regular and free from censure; § and we may 
reasonably believe, that after her acquaintance with our 
Saviour it was edifying and exemplary. She shewed him 
great respect in his life, at his death, and after it; and 
was one of those to whom our Lord first appeared after 
his resurrection, 

Mary Magdalen followed Christ in the last journey that 
he made from Galilee to Jerusalem, and was at the foot 
of the cross at his crucifixion.|| After this, she returned 
to Jerusalem to buy and prepare perfumes, that she might 
embalm him when the sabbath was over. All the sab- 


* See Dr. Currie’s fascinating Life of Burns; and Currie, 
Index. 

f Chap. vii. 36, 37, &c. 

♦ See his letter to Jonas Hanway, on the subject of Magdaien 
House, published in 1758; also Arith. Quest, art. English Cha¬ 
rily; and Hanway, Index. 

§ Hence (as is fully shewn in the letter just referred to) the 
manifest impropriety of calling houses for the reception of Peni¬ 
tent Prostitutes , Magdalens. 

|| John xix. 25 ; Mark xv. 40, 47. 




284 


JULY. 


bath-day she remained in the city; and the next day, 
early in the morning, she went to the sepulchre, along 
with Mary, the mother of James and Salome,* where she 
had the happiness of first seeing her risen Lord.f 

22, 1298. Edward I. gained a memorable victory over 
the Scots at Falkirk, in Scotland; when the whole Scot¬ 
tish army was broken, and chased off the field with great 
slaughter. The heroic Wallace commanded the Scotch 
army on this disastrous occasion. See August 23, 1305; 
also Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 

1461. Charles VII. of France died at Mehun-sur- 
Yevre, in the 59th year of his age. His death was oc¬ 
casioned by the anguish he felt at his son Louis's undu- 
tiful conduct, and from his refusing all sustenance from 
the apprehension of being poisoned by him. He was 
styled the Victorious , from having reconquered nearly all 
the places of which the English had possessed themselves 
in the preceding reigns. He had reigned thirty-eight 
years. See July 17. 

— 1704. Gibraltar, a fortress in the south of Spain, 
and formerly deemed impregnable, was taken by Sir 
George Rooke, and has ever since remained in the pos¬ 
session of the English. It underwent an ever-memorable 
siege from July 1779 to Feb. 1783, an excellent account 
of which has been written by Captain Drinkwater. The 
Governor, General Elliot, whose defence was the admi¬ 
ration of all Europe, was created, in 1787, a peer of 
Great Britain, by the title of Baron Heathfield, of Gi¬ 
braltar: an annuity of ^1200 was settled on himself and 
two lives; and in his arms he was allowed to bear those 
of Gibraltar. Heathfield, whence this brave officer took 
his title, is situated a little to the north-west of Battle, 
Sussex.—One of the best portraits ever painted by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds was that of Lord Heathfield. It faith¬ 
fully represents the fine, manly figure of the General 
holding in his hand the keys of the fortress which he had 
so valiantly defended. This was one of the many instances 
in which our great English artist introduced with much 
propriety and effect into his portraits some leading cha¬ 
racteristic of the original. His taste was too correct, and 
fortunately the fashion of the times did not compel him. 


* Mark xvi. 1,2; Luke xxiv. 1, 2, &c. 
f See Matt, xxviii. 5, &c.; Mark xvi. 6, &c.; John xx. 11, 17. 



JULY. 


285 


to lose the character of the man in the immensity of a 

22, 1721. Elisha Yale was buried. He was remarkable 
for having introduced auctions into this country about 
the year 1700. The sale consisted of some goods that 
were brought home by him from Madras, in the East 
Indies, of which place he had been governor. A monu¬ 
ment erected to his memory at Wrexham, in Denbigh¬ 
shire, exhibits the following lines : 

Born in America, in Europe bred, 

In Africa traveled, and in Asia wed, 

Where long he liv’d and thriv’d, at London dead. 

— 1812. Was fought the Battle of Salamanca, in 
which Marmont sustained a signal defeat from Lord, now 
Duke of, Wellington. The French commander lost his 
arm in the battle, many of his officers were killed or 
wounded. The English commander soon after marched 
upon the capital, and the citizens of Madrid evinced great 
joy at the entrance of their liberators from the usurpation 
of Joseph Bonaparte. 

— 1826. Died, at Naples, aged 80, Joseph Piazzi, presi¬ 
dent of the Royal Society in that city, and the discoverer 
of the planet Ceres. See Jan. 1, 1801. 

23, The sun enters into the constellation Si Leo, the Lion. 
See Exer. on the Globes. 

— 1588. Origin of Newspapers. It may gratify our 
national pride, says Mr. Andrews,f to be told that we owe 
to the wisdom of Queen Elizabeth, and the prudence of 
Burleigh, the circulation of the first genuine newspaper, 
the “ English Mercuric,”! printed during the time of the 
Spanish Armada; the number, preserved in the British 
Museum,§ is dated July 23, 1588. 


* The full-bottomed wigs which unfortunately envelop and 
cloud some of the most distinguished portraits of former days, 
were in fashion during the reigns of King William and Queen 
Mary: Lord Bolingbroke was one of the first that tied them up, 
with which the queen was much offended, and said to a by¬ 
stander, “ He will soon come to court in his nightcap.” Soon 
after, tie-wigs, instead of being an undress, became the high 
court dress. Nash’s Hist, of Worcestershire , Vol. I. p. 561. 
f Contin. Henry’s Hist, of Eng. Vol. I. p. 145. 

\$ Mercury was a celebrated fabulous god of antiquity; the 
messenger of the other Heathen deities, and of Jupiter in parti¬ 
cular. See Exer. on the Globes , 11th edition. 

§ Museum denotes a repository of learned and other curiosities. 



286 


JULY. 


In addition to what we have advanced in the Arithme¬ 
tical Questions on the subject of Newspapers, as forming 
one of the best securities of freedom, by diffusing know¬ 
ledge among the people, we may here with equal truth 
observe, that they are also not only an excellent means of 
shielding the “ oppressed from the oppressor,” but of 
subserving the purpose of morality, by preventing the 
commission of many crimes, which, from their nature, 
might pass, as Shakspeare emphatically expresses it, 
“ unwhipped of justice.” 

Every man’s observation, says Dr. Moore, may suggest 
to him many kinds of injustice and oppression, which 
the rich, the insidious, or the powerful, can commit in 
spite of law, or perhaps by the aid of law, against the 
poor, the unsuspecting, and the friendless. Many, who 
can silence conscience and evade the law, tremble at the 
thought of their names being published; and nothing is, 
nothing can be, a greater check to the wantonness of 
power, than the privilege of unfolding private grievances 
at the bar of the public. For thus the cause of indivi¬ 
duals is made a public concern; and the general indigna¬ 
tion which their wrongs excite, forms at once one of the 
severest punishments which can be inflicted on the op¬ 
pressor, and one of the strongest bulwarks that can be 
raised in defence of the unprotected. 

Mrs. Griffiths has excellently observed, that, as there 
are many vices in morals that are injurious to society, 
and which the laws have not stigmatized, or possibly 
cannot sufficiently provide against, public reprehension, 
under proper restrictions, may be deemed a valuable sup¬ 
plement to legislation. The most worthless person would 
choose to sin in secret, as not being able to endure the 
being rendered an object of public detestation or ridicule: 
the fear of being pointed at has often laid a restraint on 


The British Musem is deposited in Montague-House, Blooms¬ 
bury, and contains an amazing number of books, drawings, ma¬ 
nuscripts, prints, and rarities. The origin of this invaluable 
treasure was the purchase of Sir Hans Sloane’s library, &c. by 
the public, for the national benefit; that gentleman leaving his 
noble collection, which cost him ,£50,000, to the use of the 
public, on condition that the parliament would pay £20,000 to 
his executors. Several valuable additions have been since made 
to this Museum. See January 11, and April 5, 1753; and Ja¬ 
nuary 31, 1788. See also Arith, Quest. 10th edit. art. Museum. 




JULY. 287 

vice ,• in which sense the finger may be stronger than the 
arm. Othello pathetically describes such a situation: 

But, alas ! to make me 
A fixed figure for the hand of scorn 
To point his slow, unmoving finger at. 

23, 1744. Were caught in the river Thurso, in the north 
of Scotland, at one haul of the net, 2560 salmon* of 
the usual size; an event, however extraordinary, which 
is too vvell authenticated to be disputed. Gazetteer of 
Scotland. 

— 1/73. Died, aged 81, George Edwards, the father 
of Ornithologists, born at Stratford, in Essex. He was 
brought up to trade, but his genius developed itself by 
the perusal of books on natural history, and at the end 
of his apprenticeship he' visited Holland and Norway. 
He was chosen librarian of the College of Physicians, and 
became fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies. 
His valuable works, consisting of seven quarto volumes, 
contain engravings and descriptions of 600 subjects in 
natural history. 

— 1816. Died, at Harrowgate, in the West-Riding of 
Yorkshire, after a long illness, Mrs. Elizabeth Hamil¬ 
ton, whose numerous works all tend to the advance¬ 
ment of religion and morality. 

24, 1756. Died George Vertue, a celebrated engraver 
and antiquary, and a man to whom England is perhaps 
more indebted for the number and variety of engraved 
portraits, than to any other artist. He was indefatigable 
in his art; and to his high professional merit added that 
of having in the morning of life supported a widowed 
mother and her numerous family by his talents. “ I 
was,” says this dutiful son and kind brother, “ the eldest, 
and the only one that could help them, which added 
circumspection in my affairs then, as well as industry to 
the end of my life.” Vertue was born in London in 
1684, and buried in the cloisters of Westminster-Abbey : 

With manners gentle, and a grateful heart, 

And all the genius of the Graphic art, 

His fame shall each succeeding artist own. 

Longer far than monuments of stone. 

_ 1797. An unsuccessful attempt was made upon Santa 

Cruz, in the island of Teneriffe, one of the Canaries, 


* See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Salmon and Pilchards. 




288 


JULY. 


under the command of Admiral Nelson; in which 
several officers and 141 men were killed, and the gallant 
Admiral lost his right arm. See April 20, 1657. 

25, St. James’s Day. St. James the Greater* w r as the 
son of Zebedee,f and the brother of John the Evangelist, 
and was born at Betlisaida, in Galilee. These brothers 
were called to the apostleship as they were mending their 
nets with their father, who was a fisherman; when Christ 
gave them the name of Boanerges, or Sons of Thunder. 
They then followed Christ, were witnesses with St. Peter 
of the transfiguration on the Mount, and accompanied 
our Lord in the garden of Olives. It is supposed that St. 
James first preached the gospel to the dispersed Jews; 
and afterwards at Jerusalem, where he w^as put to a cruel 
death, about the year 44, by order of Herod Agrippa. 
Thus St. James was the first of the apostles who suffered 
martyrdom J The Spaniards pretend that they had St. 
James for their apostle, and boast of possessing his body, 
which, they say, was buried at Compostella in Gallicia ; a 
circumstance that draws a great number of pilgrims from 
many parts of Christendom : but Baronius, in liis Annals, 
refutes their pretensions. 

26, 1581. The United State after long deliberation at 
the Hague, published an edict, excluding King Philip 
from any sovereignty, right, or authority over the Nether¬ 
lands. The deputies from the provinces of Holland, Zea¬ 
land, Utrecht, Friesland, Groningen, Overyssel, and 
Guelderland, met at Utrecht, January 23, 1579, and 
signed the alliance ever since known by the name of the 
Union of Utrecht, the basis of that commonwealth here¬ 
tofore so renowned by the appellation of the United Pro¬ 
vinces. See July 10, 1584. 

— 1680. Died at the High Lodge, Woodstock, John Wil- 
mot, Earl of Rochester, a celebrated wit in the profli¬ 
gate court of Charles the Second. An eager and violent 
love of pleasure, and a disposition to extravagant mirth, 
involved him in the deepest sensuality, and led him into 
many singular follies and adventures. By a licentious 
course of life, he wore out an excellent constitution, when 
little more than thirty years of age. In 1679, he re¬ 
quested a conference with Dr. Gilbert Burnet; the result 
of which was afterwards published by the Doctor, and 


* See James, Minor. 

X Acts xii. 2. 






f See Matt, iv. 21. 



JULY. 


289 


from whom it appears, that, though Rochester lived the 
life of a libertine and an Atheist, he died the death of a 
most penitent Christian.* Of Dr. Burnet’s publication 
Dr. Johnson says, “ The critic ought to read it for its 
elegance, the philosopher for its arguments, and the saint 
for its piety.” 

26, 1813. Died at Worthing, in Sussex, the Rev. Hugh 
Worthington, in the 40th year of his pastoral office at 
Salters’-Hall, London, and in the 61st year of his age. 
He was justly considered as one of the most popular 
preachers among the Dissenters; his manner being sin¬ 
gularly striking, his enunciation remarkably distinct, and 
his eloquence strong, unaffected, and from the heart. 
The young and the aged, the opulent and indigent, were 
alike delighted by his ministration. He was born at Lei¬ 
cester, and interred in Bunhill-Fields. Several ministers 
of different religious denominations preached funeral ser¬ 
mons as a tribute of respect to his memory. 

27, 1565. The Queen of Scots married Henry Stuart, 
Lord Darnley, whom she had lately made Duke of Al- 
bany.f From this union sprang but little happiness. 
Darnley had a weak mind and an irregular temper;— 
plausible manners and a graceful person were his only 
attractions. Mary, therefore, soon became disgusted with 
the painted sepulchre. Females may hence learn how 
little felicity is likely to result from connexions of which 
external accomplishments and a pleasing person are the 
chief basis, and where they are unaccompanied by good 
temper, a virtuous and pious heart, and a cultivated 
mind. 

-Hapless they 

T’ whom thou uutry’d seem’st fair. 


* Laying his hand on the Bible, he used to say, “This is true 
philosophy; this is the wisdom that speaks to the heart; a bad 
life is the only grand objection to this book.” Examine impious 
men closely, said Madame de Geulis, and you will see that the 
true cause of their disgust with religion is the severity of its 
morals. 

f Albany, or Braidalbin, is a district in the western part of 
Perthshire, Scotland. Darnley was the cousin-german of Mary. 
His mother was the daughter of Margaret, eldest sister of Henry 
VIII., by the Earl of Angus, whom that princess married after 
the death of her husband James IV. He was thus the next heir, 
after Mary, to the English throne. Stewart’s Hist, of Scotland , 

o 




JULY. 


290 



2 /, 16J[5. Turenne, a famous French commander, was 
kfITe9ri)y a cannon-ball, near the village of Saltzbach, N. 
of Radstadt, Suabia, Germany. He was giving orders for 
the erection of a battery previous to an expected battle 
with his great rival Montecuculli, when his active and glo¬ 
rious career was terminated, in his 64th year. (See Dec. 
29.) He was honoured with interment at St. Denys, and 
a monument was erected to his memory at Saltzbach, by 
the Cardinal de Rohan, in 1781. The Abbd d’Eymar, 
Vicar General of Strasbourg, has celebrated him in the 
following lines : 


Turemie enseveli dans le tombeau des rois, 
Du roi qui l’y plaqa fait ch6rir la memoire ; 
Mais dans ce monument on cdlebre a la fois 
Turenne, ses vertus, son tr£pas, et sa gloire. 


■— 1/78. A Naval Engagement took place between the 
English and French off Ushant, an island on the coast of 
Finisterre in the north-west part of France; when, after 
an indecisive action of three hours, the latter, under cover 
of the night, withdrew in a deceptive manner to the har¬ 
bour of Brest. The brave Admiral Keppel commanded 
the English fleet; the Count D’Orvilliers the French. 
The failure of a complete victory was by many attributed 
to Sir Hugh Palliser’s non-compliance with the Admi¬ 
ral’s signals. This gentleman, who was Vice-Admiral of 
the blue, preferred articles of accusation against his com¬ 
mander, who was, in consequence, tried by a court-mar¬ 
tial, but acquitted in the most honourable manner; and 
the charge against him declared by the court to be “ ma¬ 
licious and ill-founded.” See October 2, 1786. 

— 1803. Caledonian Canal.* An act received the 
Royal assent for making an inland navigation from the 
British Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, by Inverness and Fort- 
William, through the counties of Inverness and Argyle; 
a line of communication which the very finger of nature 
seemed to point out to man as a fit channel for such an 
undertaking.f By this magnificent undertaking, the nau¬ 
tical intercourse between the western ports of Great Bri¬ 
tain,} as well as those of Ireland,§ to the North Sea and 
the Baltic, are not only greatly shortened, but vessels of 


* See Arith. Quest, art. Caledonia. 

+ See a map of Scotland. } Liverpool, Glasgow, &c. 
§ Belfast and other northern ports in particular. 



JULY. 


291 


the size of frigates receive new security, by being enabled 
to avoid the very perilous passage among the Hebrides 
and the Orkney islands, by which extensive losses have 
been annually sustained. This great national work was 
completed Oct. 30, 1822. But little use is made of it. 

28, 1540. Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, was be¬ 
headed. He had been raised from a low station (being 
the son of a blacksmith at Putney) by Cardinal Wolsey; 
and when his unfortunate patron was disgraced, he de¬ 
fended him with such spirit, generosity, and courage, as 
acquired himself great honour, Cromwell was accused 
of heresy and treason; but the real cause of his losing 
the favour of Henry VIII. was, his having been the in¬ 
strument of that capricious tyrant’s marriage with Anne 
of Cleves; a measure which he imagined would have 
secured a continuance of his own greatness.—Such is 
often the weakness of human policy, that, as Shakspeare 
observes, “ Vaulting ambition oft o’erleaps itself.” 

— 1667. Abraham Cowley died at Chertsey, in Surrqy: 
“ There the last numbers flow’d from Cowley’s tongue.”* 
He was born in Fleet Street, London, in 1618. His 
moral character appears, from every account of it, to 
have been excellent, being generally represented as the 
most amiable of mankind; and this posthumous praise 
may be safely credited, since, as Dr. Johnson observes, 
it has never been contradicted by envy or faction. As a 
poet, the merits of Cowley have been variously estimated ; 
but to his prose compositions very honourable testimo¬ 
nies have been borne by some of our best critics. They 


* Great part of Cowley’s life having been a scene of tempest 
and tumult, he formed a resolution to pass the remainder of it 
in that situation which had ever been the object of his wishes, 
a studious retirement; but one day in the heat of summer, stay¬ 
ing too long in the fields, he caught a violent cold, which, for 
want of timely care, occasioned his death. “ Who,” says Dr. 
Spratt, “ can forbear exclaiming on the weak hopes and frail con¬ 
dition of human uature ? For, as long as our friend was pursuing 
the course of ambition in active life, which he scarce esteemed 
his true life, he never wanted a coustant health and strength of 
body; but as soon as he had found an opportunity of beginning 
indeed to live, and enjoy himself in security, his contentment was 
first broken by sickness, and at last his death was occasioned by 
his very delight in the country and the fields, which he had long 
fancied above all other pleasures.” 

o 2 



2.92 


JULY. 


are all calculated to promote sentiments of piety and phi¬ 
lanthropy. (See a beautiful stanza of his. Ewer, on the 
Globes, 11 th edit. p. 448.) A selection of his works was 
published in 1772, by Dr. Hurd, bishop of Worcester. 
Dr. Hurd also published “ The Life and Works of Bishop 
Warburton.” See June 7, 1779. 

28, 1790. Was opened the navigation of the Forth and 
Clyde Canal ; which, by uniting these rivers, forms a 
communication betwen the eastern and western seas on 
the coast of Scotland. This arduous undertaking was 
begun on the 10th of July, 1708, under the direction of 
the ingenious Smeaton. Scotland is almost divided into 
two parts by the rivers Forth and Clyde; the former fall¬ 
ing into the British Ocean near Edinburgh, and the latter 
discharging itself into the Atlantic Ocean below Green¬ 
ock, in Renfrewshire; their union saves the long and dan¬ 
gerous navigation round the Land’s End, or the more 
hazardous course through the Pentland Frith. 

— 1809. Was fought the Battle of Talayera, when 
Sir Arthur Wellesley, now Duke of Wellington, defeated 
a French army, commanded by Marshal Victor. This 
victory gave a decisive advantage to the allied army of 
England and Portugal. 

29, The feast of Martha and Mary. Martha is always 
named before Mary, probably because she was the elder 
sister. Jesus Christ had a particular affection for these 
amiable women, and their brother Lazarus, and often 
retired to their house at Bethany, a village near Jerusa¬ 
lem. One day, perhaps the first time that he went thi¬ 
ther, Martha exerted herself to prepare a handsome en¬ 
tertainment, while Mary continued at his feet, listening 
attentively to his conversation ;* whereupon Martha re¬ 
quested our Lord to order Mary to rise and assist her; 
but Jesus took occasion to justify Mary’s conduct, observ¬ 
ing that she had chosen the better part, which should not 
be taken from her. When Lazarus fell sick and died, he 
was renovated by our Saviour, f who being some time 
afterwards invited to supper at Simon’s the leper, at 
Bethany, Martha attended; Lazarus was also one of the 
guests, and Mary poured a box of precious perfume on 
the head and feet of Jesus. Judas Iscariot murmured at 


* Luke x. 38, 42. 

f See Geo, Exer. on the New Test. No. 67, 3rd edit. 




JULY. 


293 


this waste, as lie termed it; but Jesus undertook Mary’s 
defence, saying, that by this she had anticipated his em¬ 
balmment, and, in a manner, had declared his death and 
burial to be at hand. From this time the Scripture does 
not mention Martha and Mary. The ancient Latins and 
modern Greeks believe, that they remained at Jerusalem 
and died there; and some assert that Lazarus retired to 
Citium, in the island of Cyprus, where, they say, he ended 
his days. 

29, 1693. King William, owing chiefly to the cowardice 
of the Dutch horse, was defeated by the French, under 
the command of Marshal Luxemburgh, at Landen, about 
18 miles N. E. of Namur, in the Netherlands. 

30, 1743. Died in London, Thomas Emlyn, an eminent 
Nonconformist divine of distinguished parts, great learn¬ 
ing, and abounding in all moral and religious graces. 
To the shame and reproach of a Christian country, and 
the eternal disgrace of his bigoted and intolerant Dissent¬ 
ing brethren, his persecutors, this heavenly-minded man 
was pursued even to bonds and imprisonment, and the 
spoiling of his goods, on account of his having departed 
from the commonly received opinion on a mysterious 
point of religion. These cruel sufferings he endured with 
such patience and fortitude as left no room to doubt his 
sincerity. The excellent Dr. Samuel Clarke* was one 
of his most intimate friends, and his funeral sermon was 
preached by the candid and eloquent Dr. James Foster,f 
at the meeting-house in Barbican. Mr. Emlyn was born 
at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, May 27, 1663, and interred 
in Bunhill-Fields. His works were collected after his 
death, and printed with Memoirs of the Author, by his 
son, an eminent counsellor, who died in 1756. 

— 1768. The famous circumnavigator James Cook, J 
sailed from Deptford on the first of his three celebrated 
voyages. 

— 177L Died Thomas Gray, an admired English poet, 
and a man of extensive erudition and highly cultured 
taste. Fie has immortalized his name by his “ Ode on a 
distant Prospect of Eton College,” “ The Bard,” and 
“An Elegy written in a Country Churchyard.” The 
universal applause given to this last production proves 
the truth of Dr. Johnson’s remark, “that it comes home. 


* See Index. 


f See Index. 



294 


JULY. 


to men’s business and bosomsand it has received the 
further commendation of a modern critic, who says, that 
no performance of the elegiac kind can compare with it 
either in splendour or in dignity. Aikin’3 Letters on 
English, Poetry. Gray was born in Cornhill,* died at 
Cambridge, and was interred at Stoke-Pogeis, in Buck¬ 
inghamshire—the scene of his admired Elegy. On a 
monument raised to his memory, in Westminster Abbey, 
by his friend Mason, are the following expressive lines : 

No more the Grecian Muse unrivall’d reigns ; 

To Britain let the nations homage pay : 

She boasts a Homer’s fire in Milton’s strains, 

A Pindar’s rapture in the lyre of Gray 1 

31. The Greek church keeps the festival of Joseph of 
Arimathea, a Jewish senator, and privately a disciple 
of Jesus Christ. He had not consented to the acts of 
those who condemned our Lord; after whose death he 
went boldly to Pilate, and begged to have the body, 
which he (Mark xv. 43, John xix. 38") interred in an 
honourable manner, in a sepulchre newly made, in a 
garden, on the same mount Calvary where Jesus had 
been crucified; and he closed the entrance of the cave 
with a great stone. Matt, xxvii. 60; John xix. 40, 41. 
See Nicodemus, Index; Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. 
Aloes ; and Geo . Exer. on the New Test. 

— 1718. John Hewet and Sarah Drew, an industrious 
young man and virtuous maiden, being at harvest-work, 
(with several others,) were in one instant killed by light¬ 
ning, at Stanton-Harcourt, near Blenheim and Wood- 
stock, in Oxfordshire. See Sept. 3, 1789. 


* The house which gave him birth was burnt in the well-known 
fire of 1748. The tenement which rose upon its site was, as ap¬ 
pears by his will, occupied in 1774, by Mr. Natzell, a perfumer. 
It is now (1830) inhabited by Mr. Barraud, watch and clock 
maker, and numbered 41, a few doors from Birchin Laue. 
The life and poems of Gray were published by Mason in 1775. 
The late Gilbert Wakefield also published an edition of the 
poems. The genius of that elegant scholar warmly sympa¬ 
thised with the grandeur, pathos, and erudition of the poet, and 
he has introduced some fine collateral passages from ancient and 
modern literature to illustrate his author. The poems of Gray, 
with notes and a life, were published in 1814, by the Rev. J. 
Mitford. 



JULY. 


295 


Live well, and fear no sudden fate: 

When God calls virtue to the grave, 

Alike ’tis justice, soon or late- 

Mercy alike, to kill or save.* * * § Pope. 

The surest way, says the pious Sturm, to guard against 
the fear of thunder, or any other alarming phenomena of 
nature, is to endeavour to have a good conscience.f 
The righteous, calm and composed, fear not the judg¬ 
ments of heaven, knowing that they are under the pro¬ 
tection of the Most High. Thunder, indeed, as it purifies 
the air, may be considered among' his blessings to man¬ 
kind ;X and to shew how little chance there is of being 
struck by lightning, it has been calculated, that out of 
750,000 persons, who died in the space of thirty years 
in London, there were but two of them killed by light¬ 
ning^ • 

31, 1/43. Expired, in the 45th year of his age, Richard 
Savage, a celebrated English poet, and perhaps one of 
the most remarkable characters that is to be met with in 
all the records of biography. He was the son of the 
Countess of Macclesfield, by whom he was treated with 
the most unnatural cruelty through life, so as to excite the 
pity and assistance of many distinguished persons, of which 
he was undeserving. 

The wise and good I pity in misfortune; 

But when ingratitude and folly suffers, 

’Tis weakness to be touched. 

Sir W. Scott’s Mis. Works, Vol. TV. 

Savage was a man of excellent parts; but his haughti¬ 
ness, intemperance, and ingratitude, defeated all the 
attempts of his friends to serve him ; insomuch that he con¬ 
cluded a life of penury and wretchedness in a jail at Bristol; 
—an eminent instance of the uselessness and insignifi¬ 
cance of knowledge, wit, and genius, without prudence 
and a proper regard to the common maxims of the world. 


* The tragical fate of these lovers is made the subject of a 
beautiful and pathetic episode in Thomson’s Seasons. 

t L’impie Caligula, a P ou'ie de tonnerre, s’ alloit cacher sous 
son lit. Drelincourt’s Sonnets Chretiens. 

+ S eeArith. Quest. 10. edit. art. Volcano. 

§ See fixer, on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Thunder and Light¬ 
ning. 




296 JULY. 

He was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter, at the ex- 

* * 

pense of the jailer.* 

31, 1802. Expired, in Grove-Place, Hackney, aged six 
years and nine months, Thomas Williams Malkin, 
a most amiable child, whose juvenile proficiency in 
writing, drawing, geography, and languages, combined 
with the uncommon powers of his understanding, me¬ 
mory, and imagination, excited the utmost astonishment 
of his friends, and justly ranked him among the most 
extraordinary prodigies of early genius that had ever 
appeared in the world. An interesting account of Mas¬ 
ter Malkin’s short life was published by his afflicted father. 
Dr. Malkin, author of “A Tour through South Wales,” 
and other able works. 


* See July 15, 1802. 


/ 



( 297 ) 


AUGUST. 

Ripen’d by autumnal skies, 

Ricli the golden Harvests rise : 

While the loaded orchards gleam, 

Ruddy to the mellowing beam. 

Richards. 

August, the eighth month of our year, was dedicated 
to the honour of Augustus Caesar, becase in the same month 
he was created consul, or chief magistrate, thrice triumphed 
in Rome, subdued Egypt to the Roman empire, and made 
an end of the civil wars. It was before called Sextilis , or 
the sixth from March. 

In this month the heart of the English farmer is glad¬ 
dened by seeing the products of the earth safely housed, 
and beyond the reach of injury. 

Inwardly smiling, the proud farmer views 
The rising pyramids that grace his yard, 

And counts his large increase : his barns are stor’d. 

And groaning staddles bend beneath their load. 

Somerville. 

The jovial festival observed at this season cheers also the 
hearts of the laborious peasantry, who, as Dryden observes, 
when 

The hay is mow’d, and the corn is reap’d 
The barns are fill’d, and the hovels heap’d. 

Do merrily roar out harvest home.* 

August, says Peacham, should be drawn in the form of a 
young man of a choleric aspect, with a garland of wheatf 
and rye upon his head; or a basket of pears, plums, and 
apples, upon his arm. 

REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, Lammas Day ; so called, as some will have it, because 
lambs then grow out of season, as being too big. Others 
derive it from a Saxon word signifying “ loafmass,” 


* See December. 


f Summer in her wheaten garland crown’d. 

o 3 


Addison. 



AUGUST. 


iecause on that day our forefathers made an offering of 
oread made with new wheat. On this day the tenants 
who formerly held lands of the cathedral church in 
York, were bound by their tenure to bring a lamb alive 
into the church at high mass.* 

1, 1498. Columbus discovered the continent of Ame¬ 

rica. 

*— 1589. Henry III., King of France, was murdered at 
St. Cloud, near Paris, by Jaques Clement, a Dominican 
friar.f The assassin was instantly put to death by the 
courtiers. Henry was the last king of the race of Valois. 

See Usson, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1714. Queen Anne, daughter of James II., expired 
at Kensington, in the 50th year of her age and the 13th 
of her reign. She was the last of the Stuart race that ; 
sat on the British throne. This family, from the acces- j 1 
sion of James I., had swayed the sceptre of England 111 J 
years. The queen was interred in Westminster Abbey. * 

— 1715. Dogget’s Coat and Badge. This being the 
first anniversary of George I/s accession to the throne, 

Thomas Dogget gave a waterman’s coat and silver 
badge to be rowed for by six young watermen in honour 
of the day. And to commemorate that happy event, he 
bequeathed at his death a sum of money, the interest of 
which was to be appropriated annually, for ever, to the 
same patriotic purpose. The candidates start at a signal 
given, at that time of the tide when the current is strong¬ 
est against them, and row from the Old Swan, London 
Bridge, to the White Swan, at Chelsea. Dogget was 
an actor of great and original merit belonging to Drury 
Lane Theatre.J In his political principles Dogget was, 
in the words of Sir Richard Steele, a “ Whig up to the 
head and earsand so strictly was he attached to the 
interests of the House of Hanover, that he never let slip 
any occasion that presented itself of demonstrating his 
sentiments in that respect. He died in 1721. 

— 1759. Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick gained a 
famous victory over the French, commanded by the Mar- 


* See Mass, Index. t See Dominicans, Index. 

X Dogget left a sum of money, the interest of which was to 
be laid out in the purchase of a twelfth cake on the 6th of Ja¬ 
nuary, when the performers of Drury Lane Theatre assemble to 
draw king and queen, and to drink to the memory of their bene¬ 
factor. 




AUGUST. 


299 


'slial de Contades, at Minden, in Germany. The British 
and Hanoverian horse were commanded by Lord George 
Sackville, who was, on his return to England, tried by a 
court-martial and found guilty of having disobeyed the 
orders of Prince Ferdinand, and was judged unfit to serve 
his majesty in any military capacity whatsoever. (Smol¬ 
lett’s Cont. of Hume.') An attempt has been lately made 
to prove Sackville to have been the author of Junius’s 
Letters. See Literary Gazette , Sept. 1825, and Monthly 
Review, Vol. CV1I. 

2, 1/90. Died John Knox, many years a bookseller of 
eminence in the Strand, who devoted the fortune he had 
acquired by his business to the improvement of his coun¬ 
try, in planning a herring-fishery,* and the settlement 
of new towns on the coast of Scotland. He visited and 
explored that kingdom sixteen times in twenty-three 
years, beginning in 17 (H; and, in two volumes, gave a 
systematic view of Scotland in general. He was also, 
it is conjectured, the original compiler of the work called 
“Guthrie’s Geographical Grammarthe Introduction 
alone being the performance of that laborious writer. 
See March 9, 1770. 

— 1798. Nelson’s Victory. A most important victory 
was obtained by Sir Horatio Nelson over a French fleet, 
in Aboukir Bay, near Rosetta, considerably W. of the 
mouth of the celebrated river Nile, in the north-east part 
of Africa. Achievements no less splendid may have often 
graced the naval triumphs of Great Britain ; but history, 
if we except the memorable overthrow of the Spanish 
Armada, does not furnish a parallel to this conquest, 
either in extent of execution or magnitude of advantage ; 
the whole of the French line of battle ships, excepting 
two., having been either taken, burnt, or destroyed.f The 
gallant A-dmiral was afterwards created a peer of Great 
Britain by the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile. See 
Nov. 29, 1798. 

The practice of giving British Admirals titles derived 
from the scenes of their respective exploits, as in the 
cases of Earl of St. Vincent, + Lord Duncan of Camper- 
down,§ and Baron Nelson of the Nile, is highly proper; 


* See Arith. Quest, art. Herrings. 

f The two that escaped from the fight were afterwards taken; 
one at Corfu, the other at Malta. 

X See Feb. 14, 1797. 


5 See Oct. 11, 1797. 



300 


AUGUST. 


as it furnishes a distinctive, and in some degree an his¬ 
torical, record of their services. The original idea, how¬ 
ever, belongs not to the present period. See July 1, 
1691. 

1, 1803. Died, in his 58th year, William Woodfall, 
remarkable for his retentive memory. He was the first 
writer who undertook to detail at length in a newspaper, 
the reports of the debates in parliament, the same night in 
which they occurred. This he performed for many years 
with unexampled fidelity, without even taking a note to 
assist his recollection, or employing an amanuensis to 
relieve his labour. He was born in London, and died in 
Queen Street, Westminster. See Aug. 10, 1804. 

— 1807. Died, in London, in his 76th year, John Wal¬ 
ker, an eminent writer on English Grammar and Elo¬ 
cution ; as a professor of which he had, for nearly forty 
years, deservedly held the highest reputation. His “ Pro¬ 
nouncing Dictionary of the English Language” is a monu¬ 
ment of his skill and industry: but he had, besides this 
work, published many others of acknowledged excellence 
on philological subjects. 

•— 1822. Died, in the 74th year of his age, Mr. William 
Butler, author of this work. He was born at St. John’s, 
near Worcester, Oct. 12, 1748, and received his education 
in that city. Having acquired considerable knowledge, 
and especially an excellent style of penmanship, he, in 
1765, repaired to the metropolis, and commenced his 
career as a Teacher of Writing and Geography. In these 
branches of education he attained the highest repute on 
account of the improvements which were introduced by 
him in his mode of instruction. His copies were derived 
from the sources of geography, history, and biographical 
memoirs. A yet more extensive and permanent benefit 
was conferred upon young persons by the many useful 
and ingenious works which he published, a list of which 
is prefixed to this volume. They contain a mass of infor¬ 
mation both instructive and entertaining, rarely collected 
in one form, and are admirably adapted to promote the 
great design of their author—the moral, intellectual, and 
religious improvement of the rising generation; to this he 
consecrated all his faculties, the stores of his memory, 
and the treasures of his knowledge. 

A strict probity, an inviolable regard to truth, an 
honourable independence of mind, and a diffusive bene¬ 
volence, adorned his moral character. How much he 
endeavoured to inculcate that which he deemed the foun- 


AUGUST. 


301 


dation of every virtue—the principle of religion, may be 
seen in this and all his works : to impress this principle on 
the youthful heart and mind was considered by him as the 
highest duty. His writings have instructed, and will long 
continue to instruct, the rising generation, and benefit 
mankind. His virtues will live and have a force beyond 
the grave. 

Mr. Butler died at Hackney, after a painful illness, 
which was borne with exemplary patience and pious re¬ 
signation. He was one of the oldest inhabitants of that 
parish, and was interred there, by his own desire, in the 
burying-ground attached to the meeting-house of his 
friend, the late Rev. Samuel Palmer.* 

Within that ground in silent sleep 
The virtuous Butler lies ; 

Ye sorrowing friends, forbear to weep,— 

The good man never dies. 

2, 338 B. C. Battle of Ch/eronea, in which Philip of 
Macedon defeated the confederate army of the Thebans 
and Athenians.f Chseronea was a city of Boeotia, a 
country of Greece, now forming a part of Livadia, in 
European Turkey. 

— 1100 A. D. William II. was accidentally shot in the 
New Forest, Hants, by Walter Tyrrel, a French gentle¬ 
man, remarkable for his skill in archery. The king was 
buried, without any pomp or ceremony, at Winchester. 
It was remarked in that age, that Richard, an elder bro¬ 
ther of William’s, perished by an accident in the New 
Forest ; Richard, his nephew, natural son of Duke Robert, 
lost his life in the same place, after the same manner; 
and all men, upon the king’s fate, exclaimed, that as the 
Conqueror had been guilty of extreme violence in expel¬ 
ling all the inhabitants of that large district to make room 
for his game, the just vengeance of Heaven was signal¬ 
ized, in the same place, by the slaughter of his posterity. 
William was killed in the thirteenth year of his reign, and 
about the fortieth of his age. The following inscription 
for a monument in the New Forest, came from the pen 
of an elegant modern poet: 


* A Memoir of Mr. Butler appeared in the Monthly Reposi¬ 
tory, for September, and in the Monthly Magazine, and Gentle¬ 
man’s Magazine, for October, 1822. 

f See Arith. Quest. 







AUGUST. 


This is the place where William’s kingly power 
Did from their poor aud peaceful homes expel, 
Unfriended, desolate, and shelterless, 

The habitants of all the fertile track 
Far as these wilds extend.—He levell’d down 
Their little cottages, he bade their fields 
Lie barren, so that o’er the forest waste 
He might most royally pursue his sports ! 

If that thine heart be human. Passenger ! 

Sure it will swell within thee, and thy lips 
Will mutter curses on him.—Think thou then 
What cities flame, what hosts unsepulchred 
Pollute the passing wind, when raging Power 
Drives on his blood-hounds to the chase of man ; 

And as thy thoughts anticipate that day 
When God shall judge aright, in charity 
Pray for the wicked rulers of mankind. 

Southey. 

2, 1/04. The English and their confederates, under the 
command of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eu¬ 
gene, gained a most splendid and important victory over 
the French and Bavarians at Blenheim, a village on the 
Danube, north of Augsburg, in the circle of Suabia, 
Germany. Twelve thousand French and Bavarians were 
slain in the field, or drowned in the Danube : 

“ Deep groan’d the water with the dying sound ; 

Itepeated wounds the redd’ning river dy’d, 

And the warm purple circled on the tide.” 

Thirteen thousand more were made prisoners of war, 
among whom was the French General, Marshal Tallard, 
who was brought to England, where he remained seven 
years in captivity, chiefly in Nottingham Castle. Blen¬ 
heim House, a noble and princely mansion at Woodstock, 
near Oxford, was settled by Parliament on the Duke of 
Marlborough and his heirs, in consideration of the public 
services performed by him. The tenure by which his 
Grace holds the manor of Woodstock is, the presenting 
at the Castle of Windsor annually, on the day in which 
the battle of Blenheim was fought, a flag embroidered 
with fleurs de lis ; * which flag is shewn to all strangers 


* See Exer. on the Globes , 11th edit., art. Fleur de Lis; Arit/i. 
Quest. Battle of Agincourt; and Bourn’s Gaz. art. Blenheim. 

The manor of Bedfords, in Essex, is said to have been held by 
the romantic service of presenting the Queen of Edward IV. with 
a red rose on the 24th of June. Neale’s Views of Seats. 



AUGUST. 


303 


who visit the Castle. Dr. Mayor’s Poem on Blenheim 
House, accompanied with a description of this justly- 
celebrated place, may be considered as the Blenheim 
Guifie; and, as such, it cannot fail of being peculiarly 
acceptable to those who visit that noble and delightful 
scenery, and is the best succedaneum that we know, to 
those who have never seen that superb seat. 

2, 1/38. Died Thomas Gainsborough, the celebrated 

portrait and landscape painter. He was born at Sudbury, 

in Suffolk, in the year 1727. The woods of Suffolk were 

the school of this great artist; nature was his instructress, 

and he was her faithful pupil. Gainsborough, says a 

modern critic, like the poet Goldsmith, had a feeling for 

unsophisticated life, and whatever he designed or painted, 

bears evidence of his taste and sensibility “ If ever this 

•/ 

nation,” said the late Sir Joshua Reynolds, “ should pro¬ 
duce genius sufficient to acquire to us the honourable 
distinction of an English school, the fame of Gains¬ 
borough will be transmitted to posterity, in the history of 
the art, among the very first of that rising name.” Gains¬ 
borough was interred in the chapel at Kew, in Surrey 
There is a portrait of himself in the Council Room, at 
Somerset House.* 

— 1798. A very awful event took place on the Liverpool 
stage. Mr. John Palmer, well known and long admired 
by the frequenters of the London theatres, being suddenly 
taken ill, whilst acting the character of the Stranger, in a 
play of that name, dropped down, and instantly expired. 
It was not a little remarkable, that almost immediately 
before he fell, lie had uttered the following words, which 
occurred in his part; “There is another and a better 
world 1” Mr. Cummins, a respectable veteran actor, fell 
down and instantly expired, on the stage at Leeds, June 
20, 1817. See Feb. 17, 1673, note. 

— 1803. Died, at Dorking, in Surrey, John Hoole, 
the elegant translator of the works of Tasso, Ariosto, and 
Metastasio, eminent Italian poets. Mr. Hoole was a very 


* The pictures executed by this great master are among those 
which are most eagerly sought after by the admirers of the art. 
His famous “ Cottage Scene” was in the collection of that dis¬ 
tinguished patron of British artists, Sir John Leicester ; and after 
his death was purchased by Lord Grosveuor, in whose splendid 
Gallery is also “ zV Sea Shore,” which receives additional value 
from the consideration that the artist employed his pencil only on 
four subjects of that kind. 





304 


AUGUST. 


amiable character, and greatlv esteemed by Dr. Johnson, 
He was born in London in 1727, and was a clerk in the 
India House from the year 1774 to 1785, when he resign¬ 
ed his situation. 

3. The Roman martyrology commemorates Lydia, a woman 
of Thyatira, a seller of purple, who dwelt in the city of 
Philippi, in Macedonia.* She was converted by St. 
Paul’s preaching, and was baptized, she and her family. 
She offered her house to St. Paul so earnestly, that he 
was prevailed on by her entreaties. Lydia is perhaps the 
name of her country, and she might be commonly called 
the Lydian Lydia. 

■— Nicodemus’s Festival. Nicodemus, a disciple of 
Jesus Christ, was by nation a Jew, and by sect a Phari- 
see.f The gospel calls him a ruler of the Jews, and our 
Saviour entitles him master in Israel. When Jesus began 
to manifest himself by his miracles at Jerusalem, Nico- 
deinus came to him by night for further information. He 
accompanied Joseph of Arimathea to pay the last duties 
to the crucified Saviour’s body, which the disciples took 
down from the cross, embalmed, and laid in the sepul¬ 
chre. | So far Scripture relates. It is said, that the Jews 
then deposed Nicodemus from his dignity as a senator, 
excommunicated him, and drove him from Jerusalem; 
they would have put him to death, had he not been re¬ 
lated to Gamaliel, who conveyed him to his country- 
house, where he supported him, and, when he died, 
buried him honourably near St. Stephen. 

— 1460. James II., of Scotland, was killed by the acciden¬ 
tal bursting of a cannon, at Roxburgh, in the 29th year 
of his age, and 23rd of his reign. The nation deeply de¬ 
plored the loss of this monarch, whose talents and virtues 
promised lasting benefits to his country. Though a deep 
stain has been thrown on his character by his murder of 
Douglas, eighth Earl of Douglas, at Stirling, 1452, the 
other acts of his reign prove him to have been of a mild, 
benevolent, and placable disposition. 

— 1492. Columbus sailed from Palos, a port in Andalu¬ 
sia, Spain, on his first voyage. 


* See Acts xvi. 14, 40. 

f See John in. 1, and Pharisees, Index. 

X See John xix. 39, and Arith. Quest, art. Nicodemus; also 
Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 3rd edit. No. 105. 





AUGUST. 


305 ' 


3, 1732. Bank of England. The Bank of England laid 
the first stone of their new building in Threadneedle 
Street, into which they removed June 5, 1/34. The con¬ 
cerns of the Bank originally commenced at Grocers’ Hall, 
and were carried on there till the removal to Threadnee¬ 
dle Street. The plan of conducting the important busi¬ 
ness of this institution, which is the greatest of the kind 
that exists in any part of the world, was formed in the 
year 1693, by Mr. William Paterson, an experienced 
merchant of London. The names of the architects under 
whom, in succession, the Bank buildings have been 
erected, are Mr. George Sampson, Sir Robert Taylor, 
and Mr. Soane, by whom the beautiful and appropriate 
additions recently made have been erected. 

— 1792. Expired, at Rock-House, Cromford, Derbyshire, 
Sir Richard Arkwright, a distinguished character, 
whose unconquerable perseverance, and admirable inven¬ 
tion of machinery for spinning cotton, raised him, from 
one of the most humble occupations in society, to afflu¬ 
ence and honour; and which, in its consequences, has 
been a source of individual and national wealth, unpa¬ 
ralleled in the annals of the world. It is said, that the vari¬ 
ous productions of the cotton manufactories of Great 
Britain (of which his discoveries are the foundation) are 
at present, in their finished state, of not less than the 
annual value of 30,000,000/. sterling! This illustrious be¬ 
nefactor to his country was born in 1/32, at Preston, in 
Lancashire. “ Seest thou a man industrious in his busi¬ 
ness,—he shall stand before kings.” Proverbs. See 
Wedgwood, Boulton, and Boydell. 

4, 1265. Was fought the battle of Evesham, (a very rich 
and ’beautiful vale,) in Worcestershire, in which Simon de 
Montfort, Earl of Leicester, was slain, and his army 
totally routed by prince Edward, afterwards Edward I. 
Henry III., who had been taken prisoner at Lewes, was 
inhumanly placed in the front of Leicester’s army, arrayed 
in his armour. During the fight the king was wounded, 
and would have been killed had he not made himself 
known by this simple expression, “ Do not kill me. I 
am Henry of Winchester, your king.” See May 14, 
1264. 

— 1347. Calais, a town in France, in the department of 
the Straits of Calais, province of Picardy, was taken by 
Edward III., after a memorable siege; an event which has 
given rise to some historical as well as dramatic fiction. 
In the year 1557, in the inglorious reign of the sangui- 


306 


AUGUST. 


nary Mary, Calais was retaken by the French, and has 
ever since remained in the possession of that nation. 
See Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 

4, 1598. Cecil, Lord Burleigh died in an advanced 
age. He was nearly forty years principal minister to Eli¬ 
zabeth, and, by a rare fortune, was equally regretted by 
his sovereign and the people. He seems not to have pos¬ 
sessed any shining talents of address, eloquence, or imagi¬ 
nation ; and was chiefly distinguished by solidity of un¬ 
derstanding, probity of manners, and indefatigable appli¬ 
cation to business: virtues which, as Hume observes, if 
they do not always enable a man to attain high stations, 
do certainly qualify him best for filling them. So disin¬ 
terested was his conduct that he was prayed for by the 
poor, honoured by the rich, feared by the bad, and loved 
by the good. Of all the queen’s ministers he alone left a 
considerable fortune to his posterity: a fortune not ac¬ 
quired by rapine or oppression, but gained by the regular 
profits of his offices, and preserved by a becoming Fru¬ 
gality. 

— 1804. Admiral Lord Duncan died suddenly on his way 
to Edinburgh. He was born at Dundee, in Forfarshire, 
Scotland, July 1, 1731. It should be mentioned to his 
credit, that, through life. Admiral Duncan was a man of 
unaffected piety, and felt it an honour to be a Christian; 
encouraging religion by his own practice, and constantly 
enforcing the observance of it where he held the com¬ 
mand. When the victory was decided which has fixed his 
naval renown, he ordered the crew of his ship to be called 
together, and at their head, upon his bended knees, in the 
presence of De Winter, the captured Dutch admiral, (who 
was greatly affected with the scene,) solemnly and pathe¬ 
tically offered up praise and thanksgiving to the God of 
battles; strongly proving the truth of the assertion, that 
piety and courage should be inseparably allied, and that 
the latter without the former loses its principal virtue.* 
See October 11, 1797. 


* See Cornelius, Sidney, and Gardiner, Index ; and Arith. 
Quest. 10th edit, Hattie of Agiucourt. We have great satisfaction 
in stating, that it is affirmed by persons well-informed on the sub¬ 
ject, that there are at present numbers of sincere, zealous, and 
exemplary Christians, in the ships and regiments of Britain, who 
are the ornament of her service, the admiration of their comrades, 
and the dependence of their officers. 



AUGUST. 


307 


5. (Year uncertain.) Was born Tullia, the beloved daugh¬ 
ter of Cicero. Her extreme delicacy, universal benevo¬ 
lence, distinguished piety, consummate prudence, singu¬ 
lar economy, indefatigable activity, profound learning, and 
exquisite beauty, are not merely supported by the partial 
evidence of parental fondness, but likewise transmitted to 
memory by authors who cannot be suspected of those 
prepossessions. In the year of Rome 708, or 45 years 
B. C., depressed with her own, her family’s, and her 
country’s misfortunes, she was seized with a languishing 
indisposition, which caused that premature departure so 
long and so pathetically lamented by her disconsolate 
father, the incomparable Roman orator. 

— 1100. Henry I. was crowned at Westminster. He 
was surnamed Beauclerc , from his literary attainments, 
and was the third king of the Norman line. By his cou¬ 
rage and address he intruded himself into the vacant 
throne, on the death of Rufus, to the exclusion of his 
brother Robert, who was a second time deprived of his 
right to the succession. Henry was the youngest son af 
William I., and was born at Selby, in Yorkshire. 

— 1717* Prince Eugene gained a complete victory over 
the Turks at Peterwaradin, a town of Sclavonia, seated on 
the river Danube, about thirty-five miles N. W. of Bel¬ 
grade, in Turkey in Europe. The Turks, being totally 
defeated, lost all their tents, artillery, and baggage; and 
the victors obtained an immense booty. Belgrade was 
taken by Prince Eugene in the same year. 

6, The Transfiguration. This term, among divines, 
means the miraculous change of our Saviour’s appearance 
on Mount Tabor,* in the presence of Peter, James, and 
John, when he appeared in his glory, in company with 
Moses and Elias. The word is also applied to a feast held 
in the Romish church on the 6th of August, in comme¬ 
moration of that miracle. 

— 1637. Expired Benjamin Jonson, a celebrated En¬ 
glish poet, born in Westminster in 1574. He was bred a 
bricklayer, but went afterwards to St. John’s College, 
Cambridge. Over his grave in Westminster-Abbey is a 


* Mount Tabor is most delightfully situated; rising amid the 
plains of Galilee, and exhibiting to the enchanted eye a charming 
variety of prospects. See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. art. Tabor, 
and No. 53. 



308 


AUGUST. 


common pavement stone, on which are engraven these 
words, “ O rare Ben Jonson !”* 

6, 1G51. Fenelon, the celebrated archbishop of Cambray, 
was born at the castle of Fenelon in Perigord, in the late 
province of Guienne, France. The annals of time do not, 
perhaps, contain a name more revered, by the best and 
wisest friends of the human race, than that of Felenon; 
and it is doubted whether any production of human genius 
ever was so effectual in enlightening mankind, and in ren¬ 
dering them benevolent and just, as the beautiful philoso¬ 
phic poem of Telemachus, which contains a greater 
portion of political and moral wisdom than is to be found 
in any preceding work. This most amiable man, after 
acquitting himself in all the duties of his station, and lead¬ 
ing a most exemplary life, expired in 1715, in the 64th 
year of his age. D’Alembert, who remarks that there is 
a long, dull epitaph on his monument, gives the follow¬ 
ing: “ Underneath this stone Fenelon reposes 1 Tra¬ 
veller, efface not by thy tears this epitaph—that others 
may read it and weep as well as thee.” 

For the truly great aud good 
Well may we spare detail of praises on them ; 

To know them, and to name them, is enough.f 

Shakspeare’s Aphorisms 

— 1657- Family Longevity. On this day were married 
at Haddington, in Scotland, Alexander Maitland and Ca¬ 
tharine Cunningham. The ages of nine of the children 
of this union amounted to 738 years. See Arith. Quest . 
art. Longevity. 

7, 1485. The Earl of Richmond, grandson of Owen 
Tudor, and the queen dowager of Henry V., landed at 
Milford-Haven, in Pembrokeshire, South Wales, with 
2000 men. He was afterwards Henry VII. Lord Bacon 
relates that Henry VI., during the wars of the Roses, be¬ 
ing at dinner in'the Tower, where the young earl of Rich- 


* In a work lately published entitled “ Aubrey, or Letters from 
the Originals in the Bodleian Library and Ashmolean Museum,” 
is the following sentence : “ The inscription 0 rare Ben Jonson! 
was donne at the chardge of Jack Young, (afterwards knighted,) 
who, walking there when the grave was covering, gave the fellow 
eighteen pence to cutt it.” 

f See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Epitaph. The Epitaph of 
Tasso : Torquati Tassi Ossa. See April 25, 1595. 



AUGUST. 


309 


mond was in attendance, said, “ That boy shall possess 
the crown for which we are now struggling.” This pre¬ 
diction has also been quoted by Shakspeare. Richard 
III. says, 

“ I do remember me, Henry the sixth 
Did prophesy that Richmond should be king. 

When Richmond was a little peevish boy.” 

See August 22, 1485. 

7, 1789. Died William Edwards, a mason, eminent for 
his skilful erection of Bridges. The Pont-y-Prydd, or 
New Bridge, over the Tave, a mountain stream in Gla¬ 
morganshire, South Wales, was erected by this self-taught 
genius. It formed, at the time of its construction, with 
very few exceptions, the largest arch in Europe. It con¬ 
sists of a single arch, 140 feet in the chord, and 35 feet in 
height above the level of the river at low water. The 
appearance of this elegant structure, which stretches over 
the bed of the Tave, and rises from its steep banks like a 
rainbow, is exceedingly beautiful and picturesque. Mr. 
Edwards was born in 1719, in the parish of Eglwysilan, 
not far from this spot, and was buried in the churchyard 
of his native place.* See Aritfi. Quest, art. Bridges. 

— 1799. Expired, in London, John Bacon, R. A., a cele¬ 
brated sculptor, born in the borough of Southwark, No¬ 
vember 24, 1740. He was apprenticed to a painter of 
china at Lambeth ; but observing the models of different 
sculptors which were sent to a neighbouring potter’s to 


* The Swiss, and particularly the inhabitants of the canton of 
Appenzel, have always been celebrated for their skill in mechanics. 
A remarkable instance of their mechanical genius was furnished 
by Ulrich Grubenman. This man, who was a common carpenter, 
was the inventor of that sort of wooden bridge which is in German 
called hcengwerk. 

In consequence of the repeated washing away of the bridges of 
Schaffhausen, a committee was appointed to consider of a plan 
for a new structure. Grubenman, in order to avoid the force of 
the stream, proposed to erect a bridge which should consist of 
a single arch. The idea of throwing an arch across a width of 
300 feet, was treated with ridicule, and the plan was about to be 
dismissed as the project of a visionary, when Grubenman, as the 
story runs, answered the objections by jumping with his whole 
weight upon the miniature model of his intended work, which 
bore him up triumphantly, and his plan was in the end adopted. 
—Diary of an Invalid , by H. Matthews, Esq. 



310 


AUGUST. 


be burnt, lie conceived a stong inclination to pursue the 
art of sculpture, and his progress was as rapid as the deci¬ 
sion was sudden. His works have been long marked with 
a distinguished approbation : and they will be accompa¬ 
nied through future ages with the applause of a poet, the 
productions of whose genius will probably be admired till 
that period of which it will be said, “ Time shall be no 
longer.” Cowper,* * * § speaking of London, observes. 

There, touch’d by Reynolds,f a dull blank becomes 
A lucid mirror, in which nature sees 
All her reflected features. Bacon there 
Gives more than female beauty to a stone, 

And Chatham’s eloquence to marble lips.J 

In his private life Mr. Bacon exhibited the chief vir¬ 
tues that adorn our nature. His filial affection in particu¬ 
lar was remarkable : at the early age of sixteen he princi¬ 
pally supported his parents by the produce of his labours, 
even to the abridging himself of the necessaries of life.§ 
Let children learn, says his biographer, not only from 
God’s word, but also from facts like the present, how a 
dutiful and affectionate regard to their parents is marked 
by Him on whom all depends. It is sowing the seeds of 
future blessings. Honour thy father and mother, that it 
may he well with thee. See No. 1, Geo. Ever. on the 
New Test. 

Mr. Bacon, being desirous of bearing a posthumous 
and public testimony to his belief of Christianity, ordered 
by his will the following inscription to be placed on a 
plain stone over his grave: “ What I was as an artist, 
seemed to me of some importance while I lived : but 
what I really was as a believer in Christ Jesus, is the only 
thing of importance to me now.”|| Religious feelings. 


* See April 25. 1800. f See Feb. 23, 1792. 

X The best specimen of Mr. Bacon’s chisel, and an admirable 

specimen it is, the subject and grandeur of the monument com¬ 
manding equal attention, was erected at the expense of the coun¬ 
try to the memory of the great Earl of Chatham, in Westminster 
Abbey. See May 11, 1778. 

§ See Pope, Swift, and Biddle, Index; also Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit. art. Virgil. 

|| Whatever our station or rank, our education or our circum¬ 
stances in life may be, let this, says Dr. Doddridge, be our con- 



AUGUST. 


31 i 


when judiciously expressed on monuments or grave-stones, 
are consolatory signets of immortality. He that dying, 
thinheth on heaven's bliss, must surely wish to have a sign 
of that hope marked on his tomb. Its absence seeins'to 
imply, that when he died he made no sign. See Arith. 
Quest, 10th edit. Beaufort, Cardinal. 

7, 1804. The China fleet, commanded by Captain Dance, 
arrived off the Isle of Wight, Hampshire. The news was 
received by the nation with an enthusiasm excited rather 
by the merit of the officers and crews, than the safety of 
an immense property, amounting to 8,000,000/. sterling : 
as they had given one of the most brilliant examples of 
courage and knowledge of nautical tactics ever exhibited 
by the seamen of merchant vessels in any nation known 
to history. The gallant action to which we allude, was 
the defeating of a French squadron of very superior force, 
by which they were attacked on the 15th of February, a 
few days after they had left Canton. The Court of Di¬ 
rectors of the East India Company eagerly expressed their 
high sense of this heroic conduct, and immediately distri¬ 
buted in money and pieces of plate, among the officers 
and crews of the fleet, a sum amounting to not less than 
60,000/. sterling. The committee of Subscribers to the 
national fund at Lloyd’s followed this liberal example, 
and voted elegant swords as presents to the several cap¬ 
tains. Captain Dance also received the compliment of 
knighthood from his Majesty. ■ 

— 1806. Expired Elizabeth Smith, a lady of most 
extraordinary endowments; excelling in every thing that 
she attempted—music, dancing, drawing, perspective, 
mathematics, and various languages, botli ancient and 
modern; — one of those characters which occasionally 
appear on earth, to manifest, as it were, the capacities of 
the human mind, when vigorously applied to worthy ob¬ 
jects. It is not, however, only in the intellectual excel- 


cern, that we may be in Christ and Christ in us; for on that 
depends our everlasting all. 

Art and science, like thy wealth, will leave thee. 

And make thee twice a beggar at thy death ! Young. 

The learned Selden, towards the close of his life, was so 
thoroughly convinced of the superior value of the Holy Scriptures 
as to declare, that the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th verses of the 
2d chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to Titus, afforded him more solid 
satisfaction than all that he had ever read. 




312 


AUGUST. 


lence of this accomplished young woman, that we can 
find proper materials for panegyric. Under some of the 
severest domestic calamities, and* the loss of family wealth,* 
she conducted herself with that becoming resignation 
which proved that the profit of her studies was much 
more than speculative. Indeed, the regulation of her 
heart seems to have been her constant employment; so 
that her unfeigned piety, and her admirable exercise of 
the social affections throughout all her intercourse with 
friends and relatives, mutually supported and adorned 
each other. Favoured by nature with a person as en¬ 
gaging as her talents were unusual, she suffered not her 
zeal for knowledge to absorb too much of her mind, nor 
the more serious duties of life to entrench on claims of 
minor consideration. In her character, that harmony of 
all its qualities appears to have existed, which blended 
and balanced the whole into something as near perfection 
as our nature admits to be realized at present. No part 
unduly preponderated; yet the gentleness and retiring 
modesty of her disposition must assuredly have been her 
greatest charm. To account for so many and such varied 
attainments, it must be observed, that Miss Smith was not 
only possessed of uncommon abilities, but that her mind 
was imbued with a deep sense of the value of every fleet¬ 
ing moment. It was this noble principle, originating 
from the conviction of the continual watchfulness of the 
Deity over the actions of his creatures, that induced this 
amiable being to devote the whole of her short life to pur¬ 
poses of improvement. The high praise here given is 
sufficiently warranted by the testimony of her works, 
which we recommend, particularly her “Fragments,” to 
the attentive perusal of young persons. 

Miss Smith was born at Burnhall, near Durham ; and 
in the 30th year of her age was deprived of life by that 
flattering and slowly destructive disorder, a decline.f See 
the Monthly Review for January 1811, and the European 
Magazine for Nov. 1809; which last contains her por¬ 
trait. 

7, 1821. Died, at Brandenburgh House, Hammersmith, 
after a life of almost unexampled vicissitude. Queen 


* In the early part of life' she was nursed in the lap of ease and 
affluence, amid the delightful scenery of Piercefield, then in pos¬ 
session of her father. See Aug. 26, 1789. 

t See June 1, 1803. 




AUGUST. 


313 


Caroline, Consort of his Majesty George IV., with 
whom she was “ matched , not paired' ” in April, 1795. 
She was interred, by her own desire, among her illustrious 
ancestors, at Brunswick, in Germany. This unfortunate 
Princess was born in 1768. 

Nothing extenuate, nor aught set down in malice. 

Shakspeare. 

8, 1540. Henry VIII. married Catharine Howard, having- 
just been divorced from Anne of Cleves. She was the 
fifth of Henry’s wives. Anne died in 1557, in the reign 
of Queen Mary. 

9, Prochorus, or Procorus, one of the seven deacons,* 
and who, according to some, was the first bishop of Ni- 
comedia, suffered martyrdom at Antioch, after having 
made himself famous by his miracles. 

— 1783. Pelew Islands. Captain Wilson, of the An¬ 
telope East-India Packet, was shipwrecked off the Pelew 
Islands, S. E. of the Philippines, in the Eastern Ocean. 
He found the natives simple in their manners, delicate in 
their sentiments, friendly in their dispositions, and in fine, 
a people that do honour to the human race. See Dec. 
27, 1784, and June 28, 1797- 

Captain Wilson died in 1810, in Devonshire, whither 
he had recently retired from the service of the East-India 
Company. He had the honour to be second in command 
to Captain Dance, when Admiral Linois, in an eighty- 
gun ship, with several frigates, was baffled and discomfited 
by a fleet of East-Indiamen. See Aug. 7, 1804. 

— 1804. Was found dead in his bed, at his vicarage of 
Lowestoff, in Suffolk, Robert Potter, prebendary of 
Norwich cathedral, born in 1721. His translations into 


* Deacon, from the Greek, Diaconos, a minister or servant, 
denotes, in church-language, one who assists either the bishop or 
priest in the service of the poor. For the institution of deacons, 
see Acts vi. 1, &c. The seven deacons were Stephen, Philip, 
Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parinenos, and Nicolas : they were 
presented to the apostles, and ordained by prayer and imposition 
of hands. The qualifications of a deacon are mentioned by St. 
Paul, 1 Tim. iii. 8, 12. The apostle also speaks of Phoebe, 
deaconess of the church of the port of Cenchrea,^ near Corinth. 
See Romans, chap. xvi.; also Sept. 3. 


t See the author’s map of the Travels and Voyages of St. Paul, in 
Exer. on New Test. 


P 




314 


AUGUST. 


English of ASschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, the three 
great writers of the Greek drama, are admired for their 
fidelity, as transfusing the loftiness, and yet preserving 
the simplicity, of the originals. 

10, St. Lawrence’s Day. This good man was one of the 
seven deacons under Sixtus, the bishop of Rome: all of 
whom, together with the bishop himself, suffered martyr¬ 
dom under Valerian, about the year 260. The instrument 
of St. Lawrence’s punishment was, as is generally suppos¬ 
ed, a gridiron, upon which he was pressed down with 
forks and broiled to death. See the next article. 

— 1557. The Spaniards, commanded by the Duke of 
Savoy and Count Egmont, assisted by the English, de¬ 
feated the French, under the command of the Constable 
de Montmorenci, at St. Quintin, province of Picardy, 
department of Aisne, France. In memory of this victory, 
Philip II., in consequence of a vow emitted before the 
engagement, built a famous monastery at Escurial, a vil¬ 
lage fifteen miles from Madrid, which is called by the 
Spaniards the eighth wonder of the world. It consists of 
several courts and quadrangles, which altogether are dis¬ 
posed in the shape of a gridiron; and in the principal 
front is a statue of St. Lawrence, (to whom the palace, 
church, and monastery, are dedicated,) with a gilt gridiron 
in his right hand. (See the last article.) The word Es¬ 
curial is Arabic, meaning, “a place full of rocks,” an 
exact description of its situation, which is among barren 
and rugged mountains; and, as it has been well remarked, 
coincides with the savage, morose character ascribed to 
its founder. See Sept. 13. 

— 1575. Peter Bales, one of our earliest and most 
eminent writing-masters, finished a performance which 
contained the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, the Decalogue, 
with two short prayers in Latin, his own name, motto, 
the day of the month, year of our Lord, and reign of the 
queen, (Elizabeth,) to whom he afterwards presented it 
at Hampton-Court, all within the circle of a single penny, 
enchased in a ring with borders of gold, and covered 
with a crystal, so accurately wrought as to be plainly 
legible, to the great admiration of her majesty, her mi¬ 
nisters, and several ambassadors at court. In 1590, 
Bales kept a school at the upper end of the Old Bailey, 
and the same year published his “ Writing School-Master!” 
In 1595, he had a trial of skill in writing with a Mr. 
Daniel Johnson, for a golden pen of 20/ value, and won 
it. Upon this victory, his contemporary and rival in 



AUGUST. 


315 


pemanship, John Davies,* made a satirical, ill-natured 
epigram ; intimating that penury continually compelled 
Bales to remove himself and his golden pen , to elude 
the pursuit of his creditors. The particulars of the 
contest for the pen; supposed to be written by Bales 
himself, are in the British Museum, dated January 1, 
1596. 

Mr. Bales was born in London in 1547; the time of 
his death is uncertain : some state it to have happened in 
1600, others in 1610. See January 21, 1750, and April 
12 , 1700 . 

10, 1637. Was unfortunately drowned, in his twenty-fifth 
year, Edward King, the subject of Milton’s fine mo¬ 
nody, entitled “Lycidas.” This deplorable catastrophe 
happened as he was sailing from Chester to Ireland, on 
a visit to his relations and friends in that country: when, 
in calm weather, not far from the English coast, the 
ship, a very crazy vessel, “ a fatal and perfidious bark,” 
struck on a rock, and suddenly sunk to the bottom with 
all that were on board, not one escaping: 

So Lycidas sunk below, but mounted high, 

Through the dear might of Him that walk’d the waves.f 


* This ingenious penman was a native of Hereford, where he 
obtained great reputation by his poetical compositions. He ap¬ 
pears, however, by his book of Epigrams, to have had a consider¬ 
able portion of malignity in his natural temper; at least, his envy 
and spleen are manifest in what he wrote against Mr. Bales. It 
is not known in what year he came to London ; but in 1611, he 
was settled in Fleet Street. He was engaged as writing-master 
to Henry, Prince of Wales, (son of James the First,) who is praised 
by Dr. BirchJ for his fair hand-writing, and the neatness of the 
characters in which he penned his epistles.§ Davies died about 
the year 1618, and was buried in the precincts of St. Giles’s 
church, in the Fields, then near London. 

Richard Gething, another curious penman, was also born at 
Hereford, and a scholar of Davies’, whom he is said to have ex¬ 
celled in all the branches of the art. In 1616, he resided at the 
Hand and Pen, in Fetter Lane, London. Some of his engraved 
performances are dedicated to Sir Francis Bacon. The time of 
Gething’s death is unknown. 

f A designation of our Saviour, by a miracle which bears an 
immediate reference to the subject of this poem. See Geo. Exer. 
on the New Test. No. 43. 


$ See Jan. 4, 1568. 


t See Jan. 9, 1766, and Nov. 6, 1612. 

p 2 


4 





316 


AUGUST. 


This excellent youth was the son of Sir John King’, 
knight, secretary for Ireland under Queen Elizabeth, 
James the First, and Charles the First; and while at 
Cambridge was distinguished for his amiable manners, 
fervent piety, and great attainments in polite literature. 
That he was no mean proficient in poetry may be inferred 
from what Milton says of him : 

-Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime. 

Young Lycidas, and hath not left his peer : 

Who would not sing for Lycidas ? He knew 
Himself to sing , and build the lofty rhyme . 

10, 1675.* * * § The Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park 
was begun to be erected by order of Charles II., at the 
solicitation of Sir Jonas Moore and Sir Christopher Wren. 
An observatory is a place destined for observing the 
heavenly bodies; being generally a building erected on 
some eminence, covered with a terrace for making astro¬ 
nomical observations. The first astronomer-royal was 
Mr. Flamsteed; hence the house adjoining is called 
Flamsteed House.f 

— 1773. The Honourable Captain Phipps,} who had 
been nine days environed with impenetrable barriers of 
ice, in the Frozen Ocean, north of Spitzbergen, was 
providentially liberated from his perilous situation by a 
brisk wind, which accomplished his deliverance, and 
freed him and his crew from the dreadful prospect of 
perishing, like other adventurers, in the polar regions.§ 
The most northerly point of lat. that the Captain reached 
was 80 deg. 30 min. 

He was attempting to explore a North-East passage 
to the East Indies by the North Pole. The geographical 
problem of a passage through Behring’s Straits to the 
East has lately excited deep interest, in consequence of 


* In a pamphlet which describes Greenwich Hospital, the date 

of the Observatory is 1679. Nothing can be finer than the situa¬ 
tion of this house : the view from it, and from One-tree Hill in 
its neighbourhood, presents a combination of some of the grandest 
objects in the world. The view of Edinburgh from its castle and 
other surrounding elevations—the Bay of Naples and the exterior 
of Constantinople, though eminently fine, are not superior in in¬ 
terest to the prospect from Flamsteed House. 

f See Flamsteed, Index. } The late Lord Mulgrave. 

§ Sec May 20, 1553, and Dec. 27, 1605. 





AUGUST. 


317 


an expedition which sailed on a voyage of discovery in 
the circumpolar seas. (See May 4, 1819; 8, 1821.) This 
arctic expedition proposed two distinct objects;—to ad¬ 
vance towards the pole, and to explore a North-West pas¬ 
sage to China, or the East Indies. The Edinburgh 
Review (June 18, 1818) concluded a most elaborate 
and luminous article on this much-agitated subject, with 
the following sensible remarks : “ This retrospect of the 
voyages undertaken to the North, sufficiently proves that 
the Polar seas have remained in the same condition during 
a series of ages. The great icy barrier may partially shift 
its position in different seasons ; but it soon returns to its 
ancient limits, and for ever repels all approach of the 
navigator. Whether some new application of human 
ingenuity, joined to perseverance, shall at last surmount 
that frozen rampart, is still in the womb of time. We 
may indulge the hope, but can scarcely entertain any 
just expectation, of achieving such a triumph.” 

The highest latitude ever attained of which we have 
any authentic account, is 842°; and the most northern 
town in the world is Hammerfest, in West Finmark, 
latitude /Og 0 , longitude 24^° E. See Bourn’s Gazet¬ 
teer, 3d edit. 

10, 1792. The Swiss Guards who attended the king at 
Paris, were all butchered in a conflict with the mob, 
while defending the palace of the Tuilleries; thus giving 
a noble proof of fidelity to their trust. 

11, 1778. Expired, at London, the Rev. Augustus Top- 
lady, a native of Farnham, in Surrey, where he was 
born in 1740. He died of a slow consumption : induced, 
it is supposed, by intense application to study. He was 
an able writer in favour of Calvinism and the doctrine of 
Philosophical Necessity; but his dogmatical, sarcastic, 
and uncandid pen created him many enemies.* He was 
buried in Tottenham-Court Chapel. 


* It is deeply to be lamented, that the professors of the meek 
and holy religion of Christ, which is designed and adapted to 
purify the passions and sanctify our whole nature, should so often 
have manifested a supercilious, acrimonious, and rancorous tem¬ 
per in their theological controversies. It is at the same time gra¬ 
tifying to remark, that the religious world is so improved in the 
present day, that no polemic disputant of the least respectability 
would, we presume, now descend to any thing so scurrilous and 



318 


AUGUST. 


11, 1803. The corporation of London presented to Edward 
Jennkr, M. D., LL. D., F. R. S., &c., &c., the freedom 
of the city in a gold box of the value of 100 guineas; 
“ As a token of their sense of his skill and perseverance 
in discovering and bringing into general use the Vaccine 
Inoculation.” See June 2, 1802. 

12, 1715. Died Nahum Tate, a dramatic poet, born in 
Dublin, in 1652; chiefly known at present for his version 
of the Psalms, in which he was joined with Dr. Brady. 

— 1762. His Majesty, George IV., was born. On the 
same day was taken by the English, Havannah, the ca¬ 
pital of Cuba, an island in the West Indies. An immense 
booty rewarded the captors. 

— 1785. A Druid’s Temple* was discovered on the 
6ummit of a rocky hill near the town of St. Helier, in 
Jersey, f and was afterwards presented to General Con¬ 
way by the inhabitants of the island, as a testimony of the 
respect and gratitude due to his vigilance as their go¬ 
vernor, and to his amiable qualities as a man. This sin¬ 
gular relic of British antiquity, which is highly deserving 
of preservation, as a vestige of the customs of remote 
ages, was re-erected on a well-chosen eminence in the de¬ 
lightfully-ornamented grounds of Park-Place, adjacent 
to Henley-upon-Thames, Oxfordshire, then in the posses¬ 
sion of that able general. 

13, 1521. The infamous Cortez, who had been driven 
from Mexico, returned in greater force, and retook that 


ing instance as a fair specimen: “ Let not Wesley,” says Toplady, 
“ fight by proxy : let his cobblers keep to their stalls,” alluding to 
a shoemaker, named Olivers, who had left his awl to preach the 
gospel. “Who,” indignantly rejoins Olivers (referring to the 
obscurity and uncertainty of Mr. Toplady’s birth), “ is this man, 
this great Melchisedec, without father or mother? Had he been 
born under the legal dispensation, he would not have been suf¬ 
fered to hold an office in the church of God. See Deut. xxiii. 2: 
‘ A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord,’ ” 
&c., &c. Upon reading this retort courteous, an old Arininian 
Methodist quaintly remarked, that though Tommy Olivers had 
left his awl, he still retained the art of piercing. 

The numerous and daily increasing sects of Methodists are di¬ 
vided into Calvinistic and Arminian. See Calvin and Arminius, 
Index; and Geo. Ewer, on the New Test. art. Calvinism, Arminian- 
ism, and Methodists. 

* See Exer. on the Globes , 11th edit., art. Druids. 

f See January 6, 1781. 



AUGUST. 


319 


opulent city; subjected the brave but unfortunate mo¬ 
narch Guatimozin to the torture, and afterwards ordered 
him to be hanged, with two caziques or noblemen of the 
greatest eminence in the empire. See Ewer. on the 
Globes, art. Indus. 

13, 1667- Expired, at Lisburn, Ireland, Jeremy Taylor, 
bishop of Down. Piety, humility, and charity were his 
leading characteristics. He was a voluminous writer on 
various subjects. One of the most remarkable of his 
works is entitled “ Theologica Electica, a Discourse of 
the Liberty of Prophesying, shewing the Unreasonable¬ 
ness of Persecution to other men’s Faith, and the Iniquity 
of persecuting different Opinions.’’ The most generally 
known and approved of his writings is his “ Holy Living 
and Dying.” He was born at Cambridge in 1613, where 
his father was a barber. 

— 1783. Expired John Dunning, Lord Ashburton, one 
of the most distinguished pleaders at the English bar. 
While in practice as a barrister, he very frequently pleaded 
the causes of the poor and oppressed without fee or 
reward; nor was he ever known to shew less ardour when 
retained for small fees than when his clients were more 
wealthy and liberal. He was born at Ashburton, in 
Devonshire, in which town his father was an attorney. 

14, 1433. John I., king of Portugal, died at Lisbon, aged 
76. He was the son of Pedro and Ines de Castro ; was 
raised to the throne in 1383, and received from his sub¬ 
jects the honourable title of Father of his Country. 

— 1457. First Printed Book. The first printed book 
on record is the Book of Psalms, by Faust, and Schoeffer, 
his son-in-law, which was published at the time here 
annexed. Several works were printed many years before 
by Guttemberg; but as the inventors wished to keep the 
secret to themselves, they sold their first printed works as 
manuscripts. This gave rise to an adventure that brought 
calamity on Faust: he began, in 1450, an edition of the 
Bible, which was finished in 1460. He carried several 
printed copies of it to Paris, and offering them to sale as 
manuscripts, he had the misfortune to be thrown into 
prison on suspicion that he dealt with the DmY—for the 
French could not otherwise conceive how so many books 
should so exactly agree in every letter and point, unless 
the Devil (who, in those days of darkness, was thought to 
be always ready at every person’s elbow, to appear when 
called for, in propria persona , and offer his services) had 
lent him assistance. Faust, in order to prove that he was 


320 


AUGUST. 


not concerned with the infernal powers, and to obtain his 
liberty, was obliged to disclose his secret, and inform the 
ministers how the work had been done 1 It is upon this 
adventure that are founded the many ludicrous dialogues 
which Faust (under the name of Dr. Faustus) holds with 
the Devil, in our travelling puppet-shows.* 

14, 1649. Cromwell, having been made Lord Lieutenant 
of Ireland, went over to that kingdom, and on this day 
took Drogheda, in the county of Louth, by storm, and 
put the whole of the garrison to the sword, consisting of 
3,000 men, most of them English, insomuch that only one 
lieutenant escaped. He also murdered every man, wo¬ 
man, and child, of the citizens that were Irish. Drogheda 
is situated on the celebrated river Boyne. 

— 1787. Died, at the episcopal residence, Rose-Castle, 
in the 84th year of his age, Edmund Law, bishop of 
Carlisle. The life of this excellent man was a life of 
incessant reading and thought, almost entirely directed 
to metaphysical and religious subjects; but the tenet by 
which his name and writings are principally distinguished, 
is, “that Jesus Christ, at his second coming, will, by 
an act of his power, restore to life and consciousness the 
dead of the human species, who, by their own nature, 
and without this interposition, would remain in the state 
of insensibility to which the death brought upon mankind 
by the sin of Adam had reduced them.” He interpreted 
literally that saying of St. Paul, - 1 Cor. xv. 21, “As by 
man came death, by man came also the resurrection of 
the dead.” This doctrine, which is usually styled the 
“ sleep of the soul,” had no other effect upon his own 
mind than to increase his reverence for Christianity, and 
for its Divine Founder. He retained it, as he did his 
other speculative opinions, without laying an extravagant 
stress upon their importance, f He never quarrelled 


* The first printing-press in England was erected in the 
Almonry, Westrninster-Abbey, by William Caxton ; and the first 
book printed in this country was the Game and Play at Chesse r 
dated 1471. A print of the house in which Caxton resided may 
be seen in Cooke’s Views of London, &c., beautifully engraved 
from an exact Drawing by Samuel Prout, Esq. The first book 
printed in the English tongue was, “ The Recuyell of the History 
of Troy," and is dated Sept. 19, 1471, at Cologne. See Arith . 
Quest, art. Priming ; also July 23, 1588, and Sept. 30, 420. 

f As to the consequences of the present question, (says the 
bishop,) about which some well- meaning people seem to have 



AUGUST. 


321 


with any person for differing from him, or considered 
that difference as a sufficient reason for questioning any 
man’s sincerity, or judging meanly of his understanding. 
He was zealously attached to religious liberty, because he 
thought that it led to truth. He was a man of great soft¬ 
ness of manners, and of the mildest and most tranquil 
disposition, never raising his voice above its ordinary 
pitch. His countenance seemed never to have been 
ruffled; it ever preserved the same kind and composed 
aspect, truly indicating the calmness and benignity of his 
temper. Dr. Law was born in Lancashire, and was buried 
in the cathedral church at Carlisle. * * 

14, 1794. Died George Colman, patentee of the Hay- 
market Theatre. He was born at Florence in 1732, and 
acquired the reputation of an eminent wit and elegant 
scholar: the former may be seen in his comedies, and in 
a series of periodical papers called “The Conoisseur;” 
the latter in his translations of the comedies of Terence, 
and of Horace’s art of Poetry. 

15, Assumption of the Virgin Mary; a festival in both 
the Greek and Latin Churches, celebrated in honour of 
the pretended miraculous ascent of the Virgin Mary into 
heaven. 

— 1751. Mr. Blandy, an attorney at law, of Henley- 
upon-Thames, died of poison given to him by his daugh¬ 
ter. See April 6, 1752. 

— 1769. Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, 
who for several years was the “faithless, vain disturber 
of mankind,” and the scourge of Europe, was born at 
Ajaccio, in Corsica: hence he has been styled the Corsi¬ 
can Usurper, and the Corsican Tyrant. See Bonaparte, 
Index, and Ajaccio, in Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

16, The annual Fair of Falaise, the most famous in France, 
except that of Beauqaire, commences on this day. 

— 1678. Expired, at London, in the 58th year of his age, 
Andrew Marvell, a native of Kingston-upon-Hull, a 


mighty apprehensions, it appears that, on the one side, there is 
nothing more than a temporary cessation of thought, which can 
hurt nobody, except the self-interested Papist, whose very gainful 
system is, indeed, by this means, most effectually overturned ; or 
the self-sufficient Deist, whose high claim to an inherent principle 
of immortality, set up for him by some misjudging Christians to 
their own loss, is shewn to be no less vain and groundless. 

* Dr. Law was father to the late Lord Ellenborough, Chief 
Justice of the court of King’s Bench. 

p 3 



322 


AUGUST, 


place which he represented nearly twenty years in suc¬ 
cessive parliaments, and invariably supported the rights 
and privileges of his fellow-subjects. By his undeviating 
steadiness in a course of disinterested patriotism and in¬ 
corruptible integrity, he became at once the ornament 
and example of the age; beloved by good men, feared by 
bad, admired by all, though imitated, alas ! by few, and 
scarcely paralleled by any. Being at his death in a state 
of virtuous indigence, he was interred at the expense of 
his constituents, in the church of St. Giles in the Fields. * 
See Arith. Quest, art. Marvell. 

16, 1679. Was born at London, Catharine Cockburne, 
a most uncommon lady, of a remarkably philosophic 
turn, who, in her early years, and afterwards in the hours 
of relaxation from domestic employments, pursued to the 
utmost limits some of the deepest researches of which the 
human understanding is capable. She died in 1749, and 
her works were collected and published in 1751, in two 
vols. 8vo., with an account of her life prefixed. 

— 1738. Died, in his fifty-fourth year, Joseph Miller, 
a lively comedian ; but better known as Joe Miller, com¬ 
piler of a famous jest-book. 

— 1825. Captain Franklin succeeded in reaching the 
sea by the Mackenzie River. It appeared entirely free 
from ice, and without any visible obstruction to its navi¬ 
gation. Captain Franklin hoisted on the beach a silk 
Union flag, which had been made and presented to him 
by his wife, who died before his return, as a parting gift, 
under the express injunction that it was not to be unfurled 
before the expedition reached the sea. See Sept. 29,1827- 

17, 1657- The renowned English Admiral Robert Blake, 
died as the fleet which he commanded entered Plymouth 
Sound. He was born August 15, 1599, at Bridgewater, 


* Here was executed, in the most barbarous manner, the 
famous Sir John Oldcastle, Baron Cobham. His crime was that 
of adopting the tenets of the great Reformer Wickliffe. He was 
misrepresented to our heroic Prince Henry V. by the bigoted 
clergy, as a heretic and traitor, who was actually at the head of 
30,000 Lollardsf in these fields. About 100 inoffensive people 
were found there. Cobham escaped ; but was taken some time 
after in Wales. He suffered death on this spot; being hung on 
a gallows, by a chain fasteued round his body, and, thus sus¬ 
pended, burnt alive in 1417. Pennant’s London. 


+ So called from Walter Lollard, who was burnt for heresy, at Co¬ 
logne, in Germany, in 1322. 







AUGUST. 


323 


in Somersetshire. The very name of Blake struck terror 
into the enemies of England. During a period of only 
nine years’ actual service, he performed exploits that, for 
the skill with which they were conducted, and the success 
that attended them, were scarcely surpassed even in the 
late war, when the splendid achievements of our naval 
heroes may be said to have fixed the trident of the seas 
in the hand of Britain. See April 20, 1657, and Sept. 
4, 1657. 

17, 1720. Died Madame Dacier, wife of Andrew Dacier, 
a woman of extraordinary learning; having translated the 
works of Anacreon, Sappho, Plautus, Terence, and Homer, 
into her native tongue. At the early age of twenty-three 
she translated Callimachus, the Greek poet. She was a 
lady of great virtue, as well as erudition, and remarkable 
for firmness, generosity, good-nature, piety, and modesty. 
The learned members of an academy at Padua chose her 
for one of their body, in 1684 ; and she was employed as 
one of the editors of the Delpliin Classics.* Some re¬ 
marks were also drawn up by her on Scripture, but which 
she could not be prevailed on to publish, quoting, as an 
excuse, St. Paul’s precept to a woman, of silence as a the¬ 
ologian. She was born in 1651, at Saumur, department 
of Maine and Loire, and province of Anjou, where her 
father. Monsieur Le Fevre, was professor of Greek. 

Monsieur Dacier, who rendered great services to litera¬ 
ture, survived the loss of his beloved wife but a short time. 
He was a native of Castres, department of Tarn, and pro- 


* The Delphin Classics are a collection of the Latin authors 
originally made for the use of the Dauphin, son of Louis XIV. 
They have in the title-page “ In mum Serenissimi Delphini i. e. 
for the use of his Serene Highness the Dauphin. Their publica¬ 
tion originated with the Due de Montausier, the young prince’s 
governor, who proposed its execution to Huet, bishop of Avran- 
ches, the Dauphin’s preceptor; and he, with some other learned 
persons, including Madame Dacier, edited an edition of all the 
Latin Classics, with the exception of Lucan. Each author is illus¬ 
trated by valuable notes, critical and explanatory; and what con¬ 
stitutes an inestimable treasure is, an index containing every 
word used in the work, and the different passages containing that 
word, in the same manner as a Concordance of the Scriptures. 
The number of volumes published was sixty, all printed between 
1674 and 1691, with the exception of Ausonius, which did not 
appear till 1750. A new and magnificent edition of the Delphin 
Classics, with additional notes, &c., is now being published by 
Messrs. Valpy. 




324 


AUGUST. 


vince of Languedoc, a place that also gave birth to Rapin, 
the celebrated historian, and to Boyer, the author of a 
French grammar and dictionary, which still retain a consi¬ 
derable rank in our schools. Rapin died in 1725, aged 
sixty-four, and Boyer in 1729, aged sixty-five. 

17, 1786. Died, at Potsdam, Frederick the Great, 
King of Prussia, in the 75th year of his age, and the 47th 
of his reign. He was the most efficient sovereign of his 
age, and was eminent in literature, in poetry, and in poli¬ 
tical knowledge; in the cabinet, and in the field. 

-Friend of letters and philosophy, 

Upon whose awfnl brow Minerva’s wreath, 

Twin’d with the brightest crown that Mars could give. 
Beams with superior radiance. 

Eudosia. 

As an author he was impious, and as a king despotic. 
His sword and his pen, his reasonings and his actions, his 
liberal ideas and his arbitrary conduct, present astonishing 
contrasts. 

•— 1796. A Dutch squadron was captured without resist¬ 
ance, by Vice-Admiral Sir George Keith Elphin- 
stone, in Saldanha-Bay, on the coast of Africa, near the 
Cape of Good Hope. Sir George was in consequence 
made Lord Keith, and survived this honour till Febru¬ 
ary 1823, when he died near Kincardine. 

— 1809. Expired at his native town, Birmingham, in the 
eighty-first year of his age, Matthew Boulton, a most 
ingenious and enterprising mechanic and engineer. The 
unrivalled manufactory of Soho, near Birmingham, was 
erected by him ; and his long life was an uninterrupted 
application to the advancement of the useful arts, and to 
the promotion of the commercial interests of the country. 
He was followed to the grave by 600 of his workmen, 
who had each a silver medal presented to him, which had 
been struck for the occasion. See Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit. art. Steam-Engine, Twopenny Pieces, and Soho. 

18, St. Helena is commemorated in the Roman calendar. 
She was of very obscure birth,* and filled an humble sta- 


* It has been said that she was born at Colchester, in Essex, 
and that she was the daughter of Coel, duke of that town, or, as 
he is sometimes styled, King Coel, from whom the place is re¬ 
ported to have received its name. The arms of Colchester are a 
cross engrailed between four crowns. Some authors say she 
was an innkeeper’s daughter of Drepanum. 



AUGUST. 


325 


tion when Constantius became enamoured of her charms 
and married her,* * * § but divorced her to marry another 
woman. When her son, Constantine the Great, the 
founder of Constantinople, came to the throne, he re¬ 
called her to his court, which she adorned by her virtue 
and piety. At the age of eighty, she visited the Holy 
Land, where, it is traditionally said, she discovered the 
true cross deep in the ground on Mount Calvary.f Three 
crosses were found; but that of our Saviour, according to 
the legendary writers, was distinguished from those of the 
thieves by a sick woman being immediately healed upon 
touching it! 

St. Helena, says her biographers, died full of good 
works about A. I). 328, soon after her visit to the Holy 
Land. 

18, 1502. St. Helena Island. On this day, (or as some 
say on the 21st of May,) a small rocky island, situated in 
the Atlantic Ocean, about 1000 miles from any other land, 
was discovered by John de Nuova, a Portuguese naviga¬ 
tor, on his return from the East Indies. This discovery 
happening on the anniversary of the festival of St. Helena, 
he called the island by her name. It has been uninter¬ 
ruptedly in the hands of the English ever since the year 
1674; and its situation, and supply of pure freshwater, 
have gained for it the notice and patronage of the East 
India Company. St. Helena will attract particular notice 
to the end of time, as the sequestered spot to which the 
late Emperor Napoleon was consigned as an exile. He 
sailed from Plymouth Sound August 8, arrived here Octo¬ 
ber 13, 1815, and died in the island May 5, 1821. 

— 1746. The repentant Earl of Kilmarnock,^ and the 
rough and fearless Lord Balmerino,§ were decapitated 
on Tower-Hill, having been engaged in the Scotch rebel¬ 
lion. || The uncommon firmness of mind which these un¬ 
fortunate noblemen exhibited, particularly Lord Balme- 
rino, on this awful occasion, is detailed at length in the 
British Chronologist. 


* See Catharine I., May 17, 1727. 

t See April 3, 33 ; and Geo. Eocer. on the New Test. 

J Kilmarnock is a town in Ayrshire; its trade consists in car¬ 
pets, serges, woollen cloths, saddlery, &c. 

§ Balmerino is a town near the Tay in Fifeshire; it exports 
grain, and has a salmon fishery. 

|1 See Aritlu Quest, art. Scotch Rebellions, 



3:26 


AUGUST. 


See gallant Arthur , whose undaunted soul 
No dangers frighten, and no fears controul. 

With unconcern the axe and block surveys. 

And smiles at all the dreadful scene displays ; 

While undisturb’d his thoughts so steady keep, 

He goes to death as others go to sleep. 

English Anthology. 

18, 1803. Died, at Aberdeen, in the 68th year of his age, 
James Beattie, LL. D., an ingenious poet and miscel¬ 
laneous writer, born in the parish of Laurencekirk, N. W. 
from Montrose, Kincardineshire. His prose writings dis¬ 
play good sense, extensive knowledge, and able reason¬ 
ing ; and his versification is elegant. “ The Minstrel” is 
his greatest poetical production. His Essay on the Nature 
and Immutability of Truth gained the author the unsoli¬ 
cited good offices of Lord Lyttelton, Dr. Johnson, Bishop 
Hurd, Percy, Bishop of Dromore, and many others. He 
had also the honour of being admitted to a private and 
long interview with their late Majesties. 

19, 14.* Augustus Cvesar died at Nola, in the 76th year 
of his age, and after he had held the sovereign power 44 
years. This emperor was extremely affable, and returned 
the salutation of the meanest individual. One day a per¬ 
son presented him a petition, but with so much awe, that 
Augustus was displeased with his meanness. “ What! 
friend,” cried he, “ you seem as if you were offering 
something to an elephant, and not to a man; be bolder.”f 
Louis XVI. of France, Frederick the Great, of Prussia, 
and Joseph, Emperor of Germany, all, it is said, forbade 
kneeling to them. 

Mock not flesh and blood 

With solemn reverence.- 

Abstain from semblance of servility; 

Lest thou surcease to honour thine own truth, 

And by thy body’s action teach the mind 
A most inherent baseness. 

Shakspeare. 

Mr. Capel Lofft observes, that this maxim is drawn 
from the depths of human nature and moral philosophy; 
and expressed with the same sublimity as it was con¬ 
ceived. 


* See Dr. Doddridge’s Fam. Expos. 

f Dr. Goldsmith’s Roman Hist, See also Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit. art. Battle of Actium. 








AUGUST. 


327 

Genuflection and prostration are some of the slavish 
modes of paying civil respect throughout the East. See 
Geo. Exer. on the New Test. No. 46. 

19, 1274. Edward I., surnamed Longshanks , from his tall 
stature, was crowned at Westminster. He was the son of 
Henry III., and was proclaimed king on the demise of 
his father, but being in the Holy Land at that time, his 
coronation was not performed till nearly two years after 
his accession. See June 17, 1271, and Nov. 16, 1272. 

— 1702. Began a memorable engagement near St. Mar¬ 
tha, N. E. of Carthagena, in South America, between a 
French squadron, commanded by Du Casse, and an En¬ 
glish one, under the brave, honest, and experienced Ben- 
bow ; whose wounds, co-operating with his grief at being 
basely deserted by some of his captains, put a period to 
his life on the 4th of November. Two of those infamous 
cowards, Kirby and Wade, were on their arrival at Ply¬ 
mouth, immediately shot, having been previously tried by 
a court martial. Benbow was buried in Kingston church, 
Jamaica. 

— 1782. The Royal George, of 100 guns, sank off Spit- 
head ; when Admiral Kempenfeldt, 400 seamen, and 200‘ 
women, unfortunately perished.* The admiral’s father 
was a native of Sweden, held the rank of Lieutenant Go¬ 
vernor of Jersey, during the reign of George I., and was 
the original captain Sentry in the second number of the 
Spectator. 

— 1799. Pope Pius VI. expired. He was made prisoner 
in Rome by the French in 1798, who immediately abo¬ 
lished the papal government. Those unprincipled de¬ 
spoilers not only confined his holiness to his own apart¬ 
ments, but placed a seal of confiscation on his whole pro¬ 
perty, and finally expatriated him. He was first conveyed 
to Sienna, in Tuscany, then to a convent near Valence, in 
the department of Drome, France. Here, oppressed with 
age, infirmities, and grief, he finished the scene of his 
humiliation and sufferings. In the beginning of Decem¬ 
ber a conclavef was held at Venice,* and on the 14th of 


* In 1817 the remains of this ship were visited by means of a 
diving-bell, and it was found to be nothing but a mass of shape¬ 
less timber. 

f Conclave is a range of small cells in the hall of the Vatican, 
or palace of the Pope, at Rome, where the cardinals usually hold 
their meetings to elect a Pope. The word is also used for the 



328 


AUGUST. 


March following, Cardinal* * * * § Chiaramonti was elected to 
the papal chair, under the title of Pius VILf The piety 
and sincerity of his demeanour conciliated respect. 

20, 1389. James VI. of Scotland, afterwards James I. of 
England, was married to Anne, daughter of Frederick II., 
King of Denmark, at Opsloe, now called Christiana, in 
the south part of Norway.^ Our Charles I. was the fruit 
of this marriage. While James was in Denmark, he 
visited the celebrated Tycho Brahe, at Uranienburg, the 
name given to that famous astronomer’s observatory§ in 
the small island of Huen, north of Copenhagen. The 
king not only made him some noble presents, but wrote 
a copy of Latin verses in his praise. 

— 1672. The famous John de Witt and his brother 
Cornelius, were torn in pieces at the Hague by a Dutch 
mob. De Witt was the zealous patron of the glory of his 
native country; the greatest genius of his time; the ablest 
politician in war as well as in peace; and the Atlas of the 
commonwealth. The catastrophe of De Witt, the wisest, 
best, and most truly patriotic minister that ever appeared 
on the public stage, as it was an act of the most crying 
injustice and ingratitude, so likewise it is, says Mr. Fox, 
the most completely disencouraging example that history 
affords to the lovers of liberty. 

21, 1561. Mary, Queen of Scots, after an absence of 
thirteen years, arrived at Leith, in Scotland, from France, 
a country which she quitted with extreme regret, looking 
most affectionately towards it, as long as the vessel in 


assembly, or meeting of the cardinals shut up for the election of 
a Pope; and the constitutions of the church allow the cardinals to 
make choice of such a place for the conclave as they think most 
convenient. 

* A cardinal is an ecclesiastical prince in the Romish Church, 
who has a voice in the conclave at the election of a Pope. The 
cardinals also compose the Pope’s council or senate. 

The word cardinal, in a general sense, is an appellation given 
to things on account of their pre-eminence. Thus, justice, pru¬ 
dence, temperance, and fortitude, are called the cardinal virtues; 
—East, West, North, South, the cardinal points ;—Aries, Libra, 
Cancer, and Capricorn, the cardinal signs ; one, two, three, &c., 
cardinal numbers, (being indeclinable,) in opposition to the 
ordinal numbers, first, second, third, fourth, &c. 

f See July 8, 1174, December 2, 1804, and May 24, 1814. 

♦ See November 1C, 1589. 

§ See Observatory, and Brahe, Index. 





AUGUST. 


329 


which she sailed from Calais kept within sight of the 
French coast.* The following lines are a free translation 
of a Latin sonnet which she penned on that trying occa¬ 
sion : 

“ Stay, cruel breeze ! rude ocean, still thy roar, 

Too soon ye bear me from yon happy shore ! 

Must 1 the smiles, the hearts, that once were mine. 

Must I thy homage, gen’rous France, resign ? 

Your Mary’s festive, halcyonf days are o’er; 

Your pride, your favourite, aud your queen, no more. 


* See Robertson’s Hist, of Scotland. Elle se l£ve sur son lit, 
et se met a contempler la France, encore, tant qu’ elle peut.— 
Brantome, (who sailed in the same galley,) Tom. II. p. liy. 

So Scotia’s queen, as slowly dawned the day, 

Rose on her couch and gazed her soul away. 

Rogers’s Pleasures of Memory. 

t“ Halcyon days, in antiquity, implied seven days before and 
as many after the winter solstice ; because the halcyon laid her 
eggs at this time of the year, and the weather during her incu¬ 
bation was always calm. The phrase was afterwards employed 
to express any season of transient prosperity, or of brief tran¬ 
quillity : the septem placidi dies of human life. 

The winter solstice just elapsed ; and now. 

Silent the season, sad Alcyone 

Builds near the sleeping wave her tranquil nest. 

Eudosia, 

When great Augustus made war’s tempest cease. 

His halcyon days brought forth the arts of peace. 

Dryden. 

The halcyon built her nest on the rocks adjacent to the brink 
of the ocean ; or, as some maintain, on the surface of the seu 
itself. 

Alcyone, compress’d. 

Seven days sits brooding on her wat’ry nest, 

A wintry queen ; her sire at length is kind, 

Calms every storm, and hushes every wind. 

Ovid, by Dryden. 

It is also said that, during the period of her incubation, she 
herself had absolute sway over the seas and the winds. 

May Halcyons smooth the waves and calm the seas. 

And the rough south-east* sink into a breeze; 


* See Exer.on the Globes , 11th edit. art. Winds. 





330 


AUGUST. 


To other climes, to other hearts she goes, 

Nor what to fear, but much to fear, she knows— 

France ! the radiance which thy friendly morning cast 
Fades on thy sinking hills ; this look my last! 

Thy misty mountain-forms no more I view; 

Dear France ! belov’d, retreating land, adieu !” 

21, 1762. Expired, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, 
a woman of considerable talents, who accompanied her 
husband in his embassy to Constantinople, about 1716; 
from which place she wrote “ Letters’’ to Pope, Addison, 
and other eminent literati, which are very interesting 1 , and 
contain many curious facts respecting the manners and 
politics of the Turks. She is also memorable for having 
tirst introduced the practice of inoculation into this 
country.* Lady M. W. Montague was born at Thoresby, 
in Nottinghamshire. 

— 1802. Monsieur Garnarin ascended with a balloon 
and parachute from the vicinity of Grosvenor Square; 
and having attained a great height, descended in the latter 
near Pancras, to the admiration and astonishment of an 
immense number of spectators; it being the first time 
any thing of the kind had ever been attempted in this 
country, and is considered as the chef-d’ceuvre of aerial 
exploits. He died at Paris in August, 1823. 

— 1808. Sir Arthur Wellesley, now Duke of Wel¬ 
lington, gained a signal victory over J unot, duke d’Abran- 
tes, who had attacked the English and Portuguese at 
Vimiera, a village near Alcobaqa, iiuEstramadura, Por¬ 
tugal. This success was the commencement of a series 


Halcyons of all the birds that haunt the main 
Most lov’d and honour’d by the Nereid-f* train. 

Theocritus, by Fawkes. 

Alcyone, or Halcyone, tvas the daughter of /Eolus, (king of 
storms and winds,) and married to Ceyx, who was drowned in 
going to consult an oracle. The gods apprized Alcyone, in a 
dream, of her husband’s fate; and when she discovered, on the 
morrow, his body washed on shore, she precipitated herself into 
the watery element, and was with her husband metamorphosed 
into birds of a similar name, who, as before observed, keepthe 
waters serene while they build and sit on their nests. r fhey 
frequented the seas in the neighbourhood of Sicily. 

* See Mead and Jenner, Index; also Bourn’s Gazetteer, art. 
Methlick and Thoresby. 


1 See Exer.on the Globes, art. Neriads. 




AUGUST. 331 

of glorious victories over the French, which terminated in 
their expulsion from the Peninsula. 

21, 1810. Bernadotte, a celebrated French general, was 

elected Crown Prince of Sweden ; the late king (Charles 
XIII.), in consequence of age and infirmity, being unable 
to manage the affairs of government. Charles-John 

Bernadotte was born at Pau, a place immortalized by the 
birth of that great monarch, Henry IV. (See Dec. 13, 
1553.) His chateau, says Raymond, ( Trav. in the Py¬ 
renees,) is still remaining, just as he left it; is respected 
even in its interior, is occupied by his old furniture, and 
ornamented by the portraits of his family. 

Charles XIII. died on the 5th of February, 1818; aud 
the Crown-Prince has been since prociaimed king of 
Sweden, under the title of Charles-John. 

22, 1138. Was fought the furious battle of Northaller¬ 
ton, in Yorkshire, between the English and Scots, usually 
called the Battle of the Standard, from a high crucifix 
erected by the English on a waggon, and carried along 
with the army.* See Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 

— 1350. Died, at Nogent le Roi, near Chartres, Philip 
de Valois. He was styled the Fortunate , probably 
from coming to the throne unexpectedly. He was the 
first of the Valois, and the sixth Philip that reigned in 
France. His death happened in the 57th year of his age, 
and the 23d of his reign. He was succeeded by his son 
John. 

— 1485. Battle of Bosworth-Field, near Leicester; in 
which the “ blood-stained” usurper Richard III. lost his 
crown and life, fighting against Henry Earl of Richmond. 
He was buried in the Grey Friars’ church at Leicester. 
With him ended the Plantagenet line. This battle was 
the last of thirteen between the houses of York and Lan- 
caster.f There is not, perhaps, an event recorded in our 
annals, more important in its consequences than this; it 
involves the fall of a bloody tyrant, the extinction of the 
long and fatal feud of the Roses, + and the establishment 
of a new dynasty on the throne of England. 

Richard was the only English monarch since the con¬ 
quest that fell in battle, and the second that fought in 
his crown. Henry V. appeared in his at Agincourt. 


* See Ewer. the Globes, art. Crux, 
f See Arith. Quest., and also Aug. 7, 1485. 
X See Arith. Quest., 10th edit. 



332 


AUGUST. 


Richard’s fell off in the engagement at Bosworth, was 
taken up and secreted in a bush, where it was discovered 
by Sir Reginald Bray, and placed upon Henry’s head. 
Hence arises the device of a crown in a hawthorn bush 
at each end of Henry’s toinb in Westminster Abbey. 

22, 1553. The Duke of Northumberland, father-in- 
law to Lady Jane Grey, was executed. He fell unla- 
mented by the spectators, who considered his punishment 
as a due atonement for his wicked ambition, and a just 
retribution for the ignominious death to which he had 
brought his unhappy rival, the Protector Somerset, uncle 
to Edward VI. See February 12. 

— 1752. Died, aged eighty-five, William Whiston, an 
English divine and profound mathematician, of uncom¬ 
mon learning and the strictest integrity. He was born at 
Norton, in Leicestershire, and educated at Cambridge, 
where he became a Professor of Mathematics; but lost 
his professorship, and was expelled the University, on 
account of the zeal with which he propagated Arianism. 
He died in London, and was buried at Lyndon, a place in 
Rutlandshire, and five miles west of Stamford. 

— 1773* Died, George Lord Lyttelton, the elegant 
author of “ Persian Letters,” “ Dialogues of the Dead,” 
and a “ Life of King Henry the Second.” For some 
time this great statesman entertained doubts of the truth 
of Christianity; but he no sooner applied himself se¬ 
riously to the study of the Scriptures, than he became 
convinced that that religion was true: 

From purer manners, to sublimer faith, 

Is nature’s unavoidable ascent: 

An honest Deist, where the Gospel shines, 

Matur’d to nobler, in the Christian ends. 

Young. 

What he had learned, he endeavoured to teach, in 1747^ 
by “ Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of 
St. Paul,” a treatise to which Infidelity has never been 
able to fabricate a specious answer. His lordship conse¬ 
crated the memory of his wife in a monody, that will be 
remembered while conjugal affection and a taste for poetry 
exist in this country. The epitaph* on her tomb was also 
a pathetic tribute of his ardent affection; we cannot with¬ 
stand the temptation of transcribing it: 

Made to engage all hearts and charm all eyes, 

Tho’ meek, magnanimous; tho’ witty, wise ; 


* See March 27, 1767. 




AUGUST. 


333 


Polite, as all her life in courts had been ; 

Yet good, as she the world had never seen; 

The noble fire of an exalted mind, 

With gentlest female tenderness combin’d: 

Her speech was the melodious voice of love,* 

Her song the warbling of the vernal grove ; 

Her eloquence was sweeter than her song, 

Soft as her heart, and as her reason strong; 

Her form each beauty of her mind express’d, 

Her mind was Virtue by the Graces dress’d. 

He was born January 17, 1709, and was buried at 
Hagley, in Worcestershire; a place not only celebrated 
for its own picturesque scenes, but for the beautiful 
grounds in its neighbourhood, called the Leasowes, so 
charmingly described in Shenstone’s Works. See Feb. 
11, 1763. 

22, 1779. Expired, in the thirty-eighth year of his age. 
Captain Charles Clerke, a celebrated English circum¬ 
navigator. He had been in several engagements, and 
sailed round the world with Commodore Byron, and af¬ 
terwards with Captain Cooke, on whose death he suc¬ 
ceeded to the supreme command. He did not, however, 
long enjoy his new dignity, as he died of a decline within 
a few months.f This event occurred just as the ship 
came in view of the coast of Kamtschatka,+ and he was 
buried at the town of St. Peter and Paul, in that Asiatic 
peninsula. 

23, The sun enters into the constellation rt£ Virgo. See 
Exercises on the Globes. 

— 79. Happened the first eruption of Mount Vesuvius 
on record. This celebrated volcano § is situated a few 
miles east of Naples, in Italy. The eruption was accom¬ 
panied by an earthquake which overturned several cities. || 


* See Laura, Index. + See Feb. 14, 1779. 

X See Exer. on the Globes, art. Pavo, or Augurs. 

§ The other principal volcanoes in Europe are Mount Etna, in 
Sicily, Mount Hecla, in Iceland, and Stromboli, the most northern 
of the Lipari Islands, north of Sicily. Of all the volcanoes re¬ 
corded in history, Stromboli seems to be the only one that burns 
incessantly. Etna and Vesuvius are sometimes many months, and 
even years, without the least emission of fire ; but this is ever at 
work, and for ages past has been considered as the light-house of 
the Mediterranean Sea. 

JJ See Arith. Quest. 



334 


AUGUST. 


Pliny, the naturalist, being- too curious in observing the 
effects of this violent eruption, and staying too long in his 
friend’s house near it, was suffocated by the sulphureous 
smoke. The particulars of his death are given in two 
letters written by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, to Ta¬ 
citus.* 

23, 1305. Was unjustly executed, by order of Edward I., 
the famous Scotch hero. Sir William Wallace, who 
through a course of many years had, with signal conduct, 
intrepidity, and perseverance, defended, against a public 
and oppressive enemy, the liberties of his native country. 
He was hanged in Smithfield; his head then struck off, 
and his body divided into four quarters. His head was 
placed on a pole on London Bridge ; his right arm above 
the bridge at Newcastle; his left arm was sent to Ber¬ 
wick ; his right foot and limb to Perth ; and his left 
quarter to Aberdeen. Rapin; Tytler’s Hist, of Scot¬ 
land. His character is well conceived and energetically 
expressed in the subsequent lines : 

O glorious chief! renown’d in ev’ry fight, 

Thou great defender of thy country’s right! 

Alike in virtuous thought and action great, 

In all a Roman, but in prosperous fate ! 

Bold son of Liberty, whose mighty hand 
Burst, nobly burst, oppression’s iron band ! 

Alone superior to thy fate’s decree, 

Alone amidst a conquer’d nation free. 

Fane of the Druids. 


* Pliny the Elder, one of the most learned of the Roman writers, 
was born at Verona, in Italy, about A.D. 23. A “ Natural His¬ 
tory,” in thirty-seven books, is the only work remaining of this 
great man. His nephew was highly celebrated for his abilities at 
the bar, in which profession his eloquence was greatly admired; 
and it is no less conspicuous in his “ Epistles,” which are histo¬ 
rical, moral, and entertaining.f He is represented by his bio¬ 
graphers as the friend of the poor, the patron of learning, great 
without arrogance, affable in his behaviour, and an example of 
good breeding, sobriety, temperance, and modesty. Como, a few 
miles north of Milan, and near the borders of Switzerland, had 
the honour of giving birth to this amiable man. See Arith. Quest. 
10th edit.iirt. Laurel. 


+ They have been translated into English by Mr. Melmoth,* and also 
by Lord Orrery. 


$ See March 14, 1799. 




AUGUST. 


335 


This brave chief, “the peerless Knight of Ellerslie,” was 
born near Paisley, in Renfrewshire; and a colossal statue 
has been dedicated to his memory on a rock at Dryburgh, 
by the late Earl of Buchan. The situation of this monu¬ 
mental statue is truly striking, and commands a lovely 
view. The simple and sublime inscription, from Thom¬ 
son’s Autumn , is, “ Great Patriot Hero 1 Ill-requited 
£hief.” 

23, 1628. George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, me¬ 
morable in English story for having been the favourite of 
two kings, was assassinated at Portsmouth, by Felton, who 
had served under his Grace in the station of lieutenant. 
A brief account of the Duke’s son, the profligate Duke of 
Buckingham, is given in the Arith. Quest. 

— 1754. Louis XVI. was born at Versailles. See Jan, 21, 

1793. 

24, 71. St. Bartholomew’s Martyrdom. Bartholomew 
was one of the twelve apostles,* and thought, by some, to 
be the same with Nathanael, one of the first disciples who 
came to Christ. He is supposed to have travelled into 
India and other parts of Asia, where he preached to the 
people of Hierapolis, in Phrygia,f and lastly, at Albania, 
a city on the Caspian Sea, where his endeavours to reclaim 
the people were crowned with martyrdom ; he being, ac¬ 
cording to some writers, flayed alive, and crucified with 
his head downwards. 

— 1572. Parisian Massacre. The father of the illus¬ 
trious Thuanus is said to have exclaimed from Statius, on 
this direful event, 

O may that day, the scandal of the age. 

Be ever blotted from th’ historic page ! 

May the kind fates in night’s obscurest veil 
Cover each record of the horrid tale ; 

And hide, in mercy, from all distant times, 

Our nation’s cruelty, our nation’s crimes.J 

_ 1662. Two thousand Ministers were ejected from 

the Established Church in England by the Act of Uni¬ 
formity. See Arith. Quest. 

— 1814, The beautiful city of Washington § was cap¬ 
tured by British forces, commanded by General Ross,|| 


* Matt. x. 3. t See the Script. Maps. 

+ See the particulars in Arith. Quest, and Bourn's Gazetteer. 

§ See April 30, 1789, and Dec. 24, 1814. 

|| This brave and skilful officer was unfortunately killed on 





336 


AUGUST. 


and all its superb national structures consumed by con¬ 
flagration ! The destruction of buildings, not immediately 
connected with the purposes of war, must be lamented by 
every person of liberal feelings; but in this case, say the 
advocates for this species of barbarian warfare, it is only 
a justifiable retaliation for the wanton cruelty exercised 
some time since by the Americans themselves, in destroy¬ 
ing defenceless villages in Canada. 

25, The Greeks keep the feast of Titus. He was a disciple 
of Paul, a Gentile* by religion and birth, but converted 
by this apostle, who calls him his son,f and constituted 
him bishop of Crete, where, as well as in the adjacent is¬ 
lands, and also in Dalmatia, he preached the gospel with 
great success. He died at the advanced age of ninety-four 
years, and was buried in the island of Crete. St. Paul’s 
Epistle to Titus was written about A. D. 64. 

Titus, surnamed Justus, was a native of Corinth, and 
host to St. Paul in that city.} Some imagine that this 
Titus was the bishop of Crete to whom St. Paul addressed 
an epistle; but the contrary opinion, which distinguishes 
these two persons, has generally prevailed. 

— 12/0. Louis IX. died off the coast of Tunis, whither 
he had sailed with the hope of converting the king of that 
country, and inducing him to join in a crusade. He was 
fifty-four years old, and had reigned forty-three years. 
This excellent prince was perhaps the most eminent pat¬ 
tern of unswerving probity, and Christian strictness of 
conscience, that ever held the sceptre in any eountrv. 
For nearly half a century that he governed France, there 
is not the smallest want of moderation or disinterested¬ 
ness in his actions; and yet he raised the influence of the 
monarchy to a much higher point than the most ambiti¬ 
ous of his predecessors. His superstition and bigotry 
almost effaced the good effects of his virtues. Hallam’s 
Middle Ages, Vol. I. 40. 

— 1346. Battle of Cressy. At this village, which is 
situated in the Straits of Calais and province of Picardy, 
Edward III. obtained a most splendid victory over the 
French, commanded by Philip de Valois. (See August 22; 


the 12th of Sept. 1814, by an American rifleman, a few miles 
from Baltimore. A monument has been recently erected to his 
memory in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

* See Gentile, Index. 

X See Acts xviii. 7. 


f Gal. ii. 3 ; Titus i. 4. 





AUGUST. 


337 

also Arith. Quest.) Edward had marshalled his army with 
great judgment, and had retired with some troops to a 
distance from the immediate scene of action, leaving his 
son, the Black Prince, then only sixteen years old, to 
command. In the heat of the battle, some English no¬ 
blemen, apprehensive that some danger might happen to 
the prince from the heroic courage he displayed, and 
from the superior number of his opponents, sent word to 
the king to come to his relief. -Far from being moved at 
this message, Edward asked, whether his son was still 
alive, and being told he was not only alive but fighting 
with astonishing valour, replied to the message, “ Tell my 
generals, that as long as my son is alive, let them send no 
more to me, for the honour of this day shall be his, and 
he must now merit his spurs.* Cannon, it is said, were 
first used in this battle. Hume, Rapin. 

25, 1653. Was a day of solemn thanksgiving in England, 
for a victory obtained on the 31st of July, over the Dutch, 
near the Texel, on the coast of Holland. This was one 
of the most dreadful and fierce engagements hitherto re¬ 
corded. The gallant Van Tromp, as he was delivering 
his orders, was shot through the body, and instantly ex¬ 
pired. His death so much checked the ardour of the 
crews, that the Dutch fleet was thrown into the greatest 
confusion and disorder, and immediately fled.f 


* On landing at La Hogue, in France, Edward knighted his 
son and some of his attendants. The knights wore gilt spurs , 
the esquires silver. 

f Personal merit alone had raised Van Tromp to the highest 
professional dignity; and he was generally considered, at the 
time of his death, as one of the ablest and most intrepid seamen 
that had ever then appeared in the world; having been in fifty 
naval engagements, and gained thirty-three victories. The Dutch 
government caused medals to be struck to his honour, and la¬ 
mented him as one of the greatest heroes of their republic. He 
was born of obscure parents at Briel, a maritime town in the 
island of Voorn. 

De Ruyter was another Dutch admiral, of almost, if not equal, 
celebrity with Van Tromp. He had been originally a cabin-boy, 
and was advanced successively to the rank of mate, master, and 
captain, acquitting himself with ability and honour in each de¬ 
partment. He shared with Van Tromp the glory of this and se¬ 
veral sanguinary contests with the English, in which he always 
displayed the greatest skill and most undaunted courage. He 
afterwards commanded a fleet against the English in the battle of 

Q 



338 


AUGUST. 


25, 17/0. Expired, in consequence of swallowing' a dose 
of arsenic the preceding day, that truly wonderful and 
starving child of genius, Thomas Chatterton, a poet, 
antiquary, and heraldic writer, born at Bristol, Nov. 20, 
1752. He was the son of the sexton of RedclifF church, 
and was educated at a charity-school, where nothing more 
was taught than reading, writing, and accounts. At four¬ 
teen, he was articled clerk to an attorney at Bristol; but 
soon becoming disgusted with his profession, he repaired 
to London, and wrote for several periodical publications. 
These exertions of his genius, however, brought him so 
little profit, that he was shortly reduced to extreme indi¬ 
gence ; so that at last, oppressed with poverty and disease, 
in a fit of despair, he put an end to his miserable exist¬ 
ence, and was buried in a shell, in a burying-ground of 
Shoe-Lane workhouse, Holborn. The works of this un¬ 
happy youth were collected and published after his death, 
for the benefit of a surviving relative, under the editorship 
of Dr. Southey, the Poet-Laureate. 

— 1776. Died, David Hume, a celebrated philosopher 
and historian, born in the South of Scotland, or, as others 
say, at Edinburgh. His “ Essays” are strongly tinctured 
with infidelity, hut his “ History of England” will endure 
as long as the country whose annals it records. Mr. Hume 
died at Edinburgh, and was interred in the Calton burying- 
ground of that city, where a monument is erected to his 
memory. 

— 1800. Expired Elizabeth Montague, a lady of very 
considerable literary attainments, of sound judgment and 
exquisite taste; of which she has given a public proof in 
her excellent “ Essay on the Writings and Genius of 


Sole-Bay, in 1672 ; and in three succeeding engagements against 
the English and French, in which, if possible, his bravery was 
more distinguished than ever. But he did not long enjoy the 
triumphs which he had so honourably won. In 1676, in an en¬ 
gagement with the French fleet, near Agosta, north of Syracuse, 
in the island of Sicily, he lost the day, and received a mortal 
wound, which soon put an end to his life. His corpse was car¬ 
ried to Amsterdam, where a magnificent monument was erected 
to his memory by the command of the States-General. De Ruy- 
ter was born at Flushing, a seaport town in the isle of Walcheren, 
United Provinces, in 1607. The chief contemporary naval cha¬ 
racters of England were, Monk, Dean, Blake, Popiiam, Penn, 
Bourne, Ayscue, Lawson, and Mildmay. See Bourn’s Gaz. 3d 
edit. art. Agosta. 



AUGUST. 


339 


Shakspeare,” &c. She was born at Horton, in Kent, in 
1719. Her May-day festivals, in Portman-Square, will 
be long remembered by the unhappy tribe of chimney¬ 
sweepers. See May 1. 

25, 1822. Died, at Slough, near Windsor, in the 85th year 
of his age, that illustrious philosopher. Sir William 
Herschel, 

-whose spirit soar’d 

To orbs celestial, and their course explor’d. 

This eminent astronomer was a self-taught genius; his 
extraordinary intellectual and scientific attainments hav¬ 
ing been the result of intense application and persever¬ 
ance, unassisted by a regular education; they present, 
therefore, to youth, a bright and an encouraging example 
of what may be achieved by resolute industry. Sir Wil¬ 
liam Herschel was born at Hanover, in Germany, in the 
year 1738; and came over to England in 1759. For some 
years he followed the musical profession; but Urania 
claimed him for her own; and under her inspiration he 
zealously devoted himself to astronomy. His constancy 
to that noble science was at length most bounteously re¬ 
warded by the discovery of a new planet, the remotest in 
our system, and which had long been considered by phi¬ 
losophers as a fixed star. To this Dr. Herschel gave the 
name of Georgium Sidus, in honour of his generous pa¬ 
tron, George III., but foreign astronomers have usually- 
termed it Herschel.* In 1783, he discovered a volcanic 
mountain in the Moon, and in 1787, made further obser¬ 
vations on that planet, and found two others therein which 
emitted fire from their summits. In pursuing his inqui¬ 
ries concerning his new planet, he discovered it to be sur¬ 
rounded, like Saturn, with rings, and to have six satellites. 
He also confirmed, by his observations, the opinion of 
Newton concerning the number of the satellites of Saturn; 
and made many curious discoveries relative to nebulous 
and double stars. Dr. Herschel, like his great predeces¬ 
sor Sir Isaac Newton, was distinguished by that humility 
which, when it accompanies exalted genius, is one of its 
brightest ornaments; 

And by example shews how amiable 

Wisdom with goodness join’d : patient and mild. 

His manners were unassuming, and he was a free, in- 


* It is also known by the name of Uranus. 

q 2 







340 


AUGUST. 


structive, and pleasant companion. Of the numerous 
visiters whom the celebrity of his name attracted, no one 
ever returned from his hospitable cottage without feeling 
gratified with the urbanity of the man, or being improved 
by the conversation of the philosopher. Sir William 
Herschel was buried at Upton, a village in Bucks, and 
near Colnbrook. His fame rests upon an imperishable 
basis, and will be coeval with the planetary system which 
his discoveries illustrated.* 

Hail, worthy of heroic praise, ye Sons 

Of Hermes and Astronomy ! beyond 

The realms of change and death : therefore, secure,. 

Your names defy oblivion ; Glory waves 
High in the Heavens the sacred roll, and shews 
Your honour’d record from her car of fire, 

To the admiring Earth. Posterity 
Shall see and reverence. 

Eudosia. 

26, 55 B. C. Julius (Lesar, the celebrated Roman com¬ 
mander, landed near Dover, with an intention to subdue 
Britain. He landed again at the same place the following 
year. See Henry’s Hist, of Eng. 

— 1541. Orellana, a Spanish officer, who had deserted 
his commander Pizarro, arrived at the mouth of the Ma- 
ragnon or Maranon, in South America, after a voyage of 


* In the grounds attached to Dr. Herschel’s residence at Slough, 
was fixed his great 40-feet telescope; which, with proper glasses, 
magnifies 6000 times. An accurate description of it, with plates, 
is to be found in the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1705. 
The discoveries which have immortalized this great astronomer 
were not, however, made by means of this instrument, which is 
rather an object of curiosity than use. The fact is, no such large 
power is either necessary or advantageous. Dr. Herschel, and 
his scientific sister when assisting him, occasionally used a 20- 
feet telescope, and the greater part of their discoveries have been 
made with reflectors of from 10 to 20 feet, and with powers of 
from CO to 300. The rapid rotation of the earth prevents the ap¬ 
plication of a higher power than 300 being generally useful. A 
scientific writer mentions the polar star as a proper test of the 
perfection of a telescope as to its light and distinctness, because 
it is easily found and always visible; and Dr. Herschel recom¬ 
mends a 20-feet telescope on account of the moderate weight of 
the mirror and the proportionably long wooden tube, which, 
with proper precautions, may be used iu any temperature. 



AUGUST. 


341 


nearly seven months from Peru to the Atlantic, down 
that noble river, the largest in the known world.* * On 
his arrival in Spain, Orellana gave a marvellous account 
of the countries through which he had passed, and as¬ 
serted, that he had fallen in with a nation of women; 
whence the name Amazonf was given to the river, and 
Amazonia to part of the adjacent country. It was, how¬ 
ever, afterwards found, that these women were not soldiers, 
but were only, according to custom, carrying the arms of 
their husbands. 

26, 1777- Died Francis Fawkes, well known for many 
ingenious poems of his own, but more so by his pleasing 
translations of the works of Anacreon, Sappho, Bion. and 
Moschus, and the Idylliums of Theocritus. He was born 
in Yorkshire about the year 1725, and at his death was 
rector of Hayes, in Kent. 

— 1789. Expired in indigence, in the King’s Bench 
prison—neglected by those “his former bounty fed”— 
Valentine Morris, a gentleman pre-eminently distin¬ 
guished for unbounded benevolence and magnificent hos¬ 
pitality ; who profusely shared his “ good things,” in the 
day of his fortune, with the friends of his prosperity ; and 
cheerfully divided the pittance that remained, in the hour 
of his distress and imprisonment, with the unfortunate 
companions of his adversity.]; The scene of his splen¬ 
dour was Piercefield, an enchanting spot, upon which 
nature has been peculiarly lavish of her favours, and which 
has been spoken of by Mr. Wheatly, Mr. Gilpin, and 


* See an ingenious and useful work entitled “ Potamology, 
or a Tabular Description of the Principal Rivers throughout the 
World—their Rise, Course, the Cities or Towns on or near them, 
their Tributary Streams, Length, Navigation, and Outfall into 
Oceans, Seas, or Lakes. 2nd edition, 1829. By G. Small- 
field.” In this Description, the situation of each City or 
Town, and the termination of each Tributary, is accurately de¬ 
signated as on the right or left bank of the Principal stream. 

•f* See Exercises on the Globes , art. Amazons. 

* The generous, open-hearted Morris was an instance of the 
truth of the following remark : “ That whatever our circumstances 
and possessions be, the stream of our bounty will soon be dried 
up, if it be not supplied from the fountain of a prudent frugality.” 
See Arith. Quest. 10th edition, art. Economy the best Source of 
Generosity. 



342 


AUGUST. 


many other writers, in the most flattering terms. It is 
situated near Chepstow, in Monmouthshire. 

26, 1/95. Trincomale, a Dutch settlement in the island 
of Ceylon', was captured by the English. 

27, 1748. Expired, at his favourite residence of Richmond, 
Surrey, James Thomson, the charming “ Poet of the 
Seasons.” He was born Sept. 22, 1700, at Ednam, in 
Roxburghshire, Scotland: 

“---There 

His infant feet first trod the virgin snow ; 

Himself as pure- 

As a writer, his mode of thinking and of expressing 
his thoughts is original. He thinks always as a man of 
genius, looking round on nature and on life with the eye 
which nature bestows only on a poet, the eye that distin¬ 
guishes, in every thing represented to its view, whatever 
there is on which imagination can delight to be detained, 
and with a mind that at once comprehends the vast and 
attends to the minute. His descriptions in “The Sea¬ 
sons”*' bring before us the whole magnificence of nature, 
whether pleasing or dreadful. As a man, the qualities 
of his mind and heart are sufficiently conspicuous in his 
writings; in them we see his love of mankind, of his 
country, and friends, his devotion to the Supreme Being, 
and his tenderness of heart even to the brute creation . 
He is not, indeed, known to have given, through his 
whole life, one moment’s pain to any person, either by 
his writings or his conduct. 

— 1797. The Marquis de la Fayette, who will be 
long remembered as the active and ardent friend of Ame¬ 
rican freedom, and who acted a conspicuous part in the 
early scenes of the French Revolution, was liberated from 
Olmutz, in Moravia, where he had been rigorously im¬ 
prisoned by the Emperor of Germany, Francis II., as is 
generally said, contrary to the law of nations. See Ol¬ 
mutz, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1802. The New Docks at Blackwall, near London, 


* This work, says Dr. Aikin, can never cease to delight as long 
as nature is loved and studied, and so long as liberal and dignified 
sentiments find sympathetic breasts. No poetical performance 
may be more confidently recommended to the juvenile reader, 
whose fondness for it is one of the most unequivocal marks of a 
pure and well-disposed mind. Letters on Eng . Poetry. 





AUGUST. 


343 


were opened in the presence of the principal officers of 
state ; on which occasion the Henry Addington East In- 
diaman entered, decorated with the colours of the different 
nations of Europe. 

28, 430. Expired St. Augustine, an illustrious father of 
the church. He was born at Tagaste,* on the 13th of 
November, 354; and his mother, Monica, a woman of 
great virtue, instructed him in the principles of the Chris¬ 
tian religion. He completed his education at Carthage, 
where he afterwards taught rhetoric with great applause, 
as he did subsequently at Rome and at Milan, iii Italy. 
He returned to Africa in 388, and, with eleven other 
persons, adopted the monastic way of life in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Hippo,f exercising themselves, it is said, 
in fasting, prayer, study, and meditation, day and night, 
for the space of three years; hence sprang up the Au¬ 
gustine Friars, being the first order of Mendicants.^ Au- 


* A town in the north part of Numidia, Africa. See Africa 
Antiqua, in Wilkinson’s Atlas Classica; Cellarius’s Geogra- 
phia Antiquay or Smith’s Atlas Classica. 

t A town of Numidia, adjacent to the sea, in the same maps. 

X Mendicants, beggars, was a term applied to several orders of 
religious, who lived on alms, and went a-begging from door to 
door; but this vagrant tribe was at length reduced to four , namely, 
the Dominicans,* Franciscans,§ Carmelites, j| and Augus- 
tines. The sanctimonious rabble affirmed, without a blush, that 
the true method of obtaining salvation was revealed to them alone; 
proclaimed, with ostentation, the superior efficacy and virtue of 
their indulgences ;^f and vaunted, beyond measure, their interest 
at the court of heaveu, and their familiar connexion with the Su¬ 
preme Being, the Virgin Mary, and the saints in glory. By these 
impious wiles, they so deluded and captivated the miserable and 
blinded multitude, that they would not intrust any other but the 
Mendicants with the care of their souls. They, however, lost their 
credit in the sixteenth century, by their rustic impudence, their 
ridiculous superstitions, their ignorance, cruelty, and brutish man¬ 
ners. They discovered the most barbarous aversion to the arts 


* See April 19, 1804. 5 See Oct. 4, 1226. 

|| The Carmelites, or White Friars, took their name and origin from 
Carmel, a mountain south-west of Mount Tabor, in the Holy Land, 
formerly inhabited by the prophets Elias and Elisha, and by the chil¬ 
dren of the prophets ; from whom this order pretend to descend in an 
uninterrupted succession ; but the manner in which they make out 
their antiquity has something in it too ridiculous to be rehearsed. 
See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. art. Carmel. 

f See July 8, 1174. 




344 


AUGUST. 


gustine was afterwards ordained bishop of Hippo, by Me- 
galus, bishop of Calama,* then primate of Numidia. 

28, 1645. Died Hugo Grotius, born at Delft, in Hol¬ 
land, 1583, and one of the greatest men in Europe as a 
writer on philosophy, divinity, civil law, and polite lite¬ 
rature. He pleaded at the bar before he was seventeen 
years of age, and was not twenty-four when he was ap¬ 
pointed Attorney-General. His “ Treatise on the Truth 
of the Christian Religion,” and his ‘‘Treatise on the 
Rights of Peace and War,” have immortalized his name. 
He was imprisoned in 1619, when his friend Barneveldt 
was beheaded, but escaped from his incarceration by his 
wife’s contrivance, and died at Rostock, in the north of 
Germany. Such a woman, says Bayle, deserved not only 
a statue, but canonization, from the Republic of Letters; 
for it is to her that posterity is indebted for all the excel¬ 
lent works which her husband published, and which, but 
for her spirited conduct, would never have emerged from 
the dark dungeon of Louvestein. See Hague and Louve- 
stein. Bourn’s Gazetteer; also, for several examples of 
female affection, Butler’s Exer. on the Globes, 11th edit. 

— 1648. The garrison of Colchester, in Essex, having 
endured a siege of ten weeks, was compelled to surrender 
prisoners at discretion to general Fairfax : whereupon 
Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle were immediately 
shot. They were interred in St. Giles’s church, Colches¬ 
ter. 

— 1793. Toulon, a celebrated seaport in the south of 
France, surrendered to the British Admiral, Lord Hood. 
See Dec. 19, 1793. 

— 1794. The tyrannical demagogue Robespierre, a 
name which will be transmitted with infamy to the latest 
posterity, suffered death at Paris. Great numbers were 
sacrificed to his jealous and dastardly cruelty, during his 


and sciences, and expressed a like abhorrence of certain eminent 
and learned men, who recommended the culture of the mind, and 
attacked the barbarism of the age in their writings and discourse. 
Their general character, together with other circumstances, con ¬ 
curred to render a reformationf desirable, and to accomplish this 
happy and glorious event. See Mosheim’s Eccl. Hist., or Dr. 
Rees’s New Cyclopedia. 

* A town in the interior part of Numidia. 


t See Feb. 16, 1497.- 




AUGUST. 345 

sanguinary administration. He was a native of Arras, in 
the department of the Straits of Calais. 

28, 1818. Was the third anniversary of the National 
Benevolent Institution, founded by Peter Herve , 
Esq., for the Relief of Distressed Persons in the Middle 
Ranks of Life, of whatever country or religious persua¬ 
sion.* Its objects are two-fold; the first is to administer 
essential and permanent relief to those who in old age 
want support, and who have heretofore lived respectably 
either in independence, in professions, or in the higher 
departments of trade ; but, by adverse circumstances or 
calamitous events, are reduced to penury. The second 
object is to advance small loans to persons, proportionate 
to their several necessities, to secure their credit, and ena¬ 
ble them to persevere in the world. Since the formation 
of this beneficial establishment, many have been relieved 
by pensions or by loans, who but for this assistance must 
have sought refuge in a poor-house. The principle of 
this noble charity cannot be too warmly applauded, since 
it operates not only to relieve distress, but to reward 
virtue—for only the virtuous and deserving are allowed 
to participate in its bounty; the recipients being obliged 
to produce a well-attested declaration, that their poverty 
is not the result of vice, idleness, or extravagance. 

The original patroness of this laudable institution was 
the late lamented Princess Charlotte, who at this anni¬ 
versary was succeeded by the Duchess of Kent, sister to 
his Royal Highness Prince Leopold. 

The institution is supported by annual subscriptions of 
Five Shillings and upwards, and by donations and be¬ 
quests. The office is at No. 45, Great Russell Street, 
Bloomsbury. 

29, Decollation of John the Baptist. See June 24. 

— 1680. Death of Blood. On this day, says Mr. 

Pennant, died peacefully and fearlessly in bis bed, and 
without any signs of penitence, totally hardened, and 
forsaken of Heaven, the miscreant Blood, notorious for 
his" attempt to steal the crown. Never was a more de¬ 
termined villain, “ with a head to contrive, and a heart 


* This benevolent man. 

By heaven inspired, who formed the great design 
To rescue worthy objects from distress, 

From houseless want, distraction, and despair, 

died in France in 1827. 

q 3 





346 


AUGUST. 


to execute any wickedness.” He had a pension of 500L 
a year, and perpetually enjoyed the smiles of majesty 
(Charles II.) at court, where, it is said, he was retained by 
a profligate set of men to overawe any who had integrity 
enough to resist their measures. Pennant’s London . 

29, 1764. Died, at Clapham, in Surrey, in the 80th year of 
his age. Sir John Barnard, to whose memory a statue 
was afterwards erected in the Royal Exchange, by his 
fellow-citizens.* He was an eminent merchant. 

— 1797. Expired, in the sixty-third year of his age, at 
Derby, the place of his nativity, Joseph Wright, an 
artist, who was one of the founders of the British School 
of Painting, and whose works occupy a very distinguished 
place in various departments of the art, particularly in 
fire-light subjects.^ In moon-light, likewise, his pictures 
are allowed to hold the highest rank; and his judicious 
combination of fire and moon-light has particularly at¬ 
tracted the admiration of connoisseurs. It is recorded of 
this admirable artist, that in his works the attention is 
ever directed to the cause of virtue ; that his earliest his¬ 
torical pictures consist of subjects either of rational o'r 
moral improvement, and that he has succeeded admirably 
in exciting the gentler feelings of humanity; for what eye 
or heart ever remained unmoved at the sight of Maria, 
Sterne’s Captive, or the Dead Soldier ? In his works, 
“not one immoral, one corrupted thought,” occurs to 
wound the eye of delicacy; and his pictures, the reflection 
of his own delicate mind, will be ranked by posterity as 
treasures worthy the imitation of succeeding generations. 

30, 70. Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus. (See Arith. 
Quest.) Some date its ruin on the 8th of September. 

— 1483. Louis XI. died of palsy, in the 61st year of his 
age, and the 23rd of his reign. See July 3, 1423, and 
Tours, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1804. Expired, at Manchester, Thomas Percival, 
M.D., who, to a high professional character, superadded 
distinguished rank in literature. His earlier publications 
were devoted to medical, philosophical, and scientific 
researches: but the subjects which generally occupied 


* See Readiug and Wandsworth, in Bourn’s Gaz., 3d edit. 

t One of these, a large picture of Mount Vesuvius, was sold 
to the late Empress of Russia for 300 guineas. The destruction 
of the floating batteries off Gibraltar is also a painting of this de¬ 
scription. See July 6, 1790, and July 22, 1704. 



AUGUST. 


347 

his pen in his later years, were, it is said, of a nature more 
congenial to his feeling. His Father's Instructions and 
Moral Dissertations, were originally conceived with the 
design of exciting in the hearts of his own children a 
desire of knowledge and a love of virtue; and certainly, 
within the range of human selection, there can be no 
object of higher importance than that which the author 
constantly held in view in executing those works—the 
intellectual, moral, and religious improvement of the 
rising generation. Dr. Percival was educated a Dissenter, 
and steadily retained the principles of rational dissent, 
without descending to be a partisan. He was a native of 
Warrington, in Lancashire, where he was born. Sept. 
29, 1740. 

31, 1422. Henry V., the celebrated conqueror of France, 
expired at Vincennes, near Paris, in that country, in the 
thirty-fifth year of his age, and the tenth of his reign. 
His remains were conveyed to England, and interred in 
Westminster-Abbey, at the feet of Edward the Confessor. 
Henry was a native of Monmouth, which at that period 
belonged to Wales: a country which also gave birth to 
two other kings of England, namely, Edward II. and 
Henry VII. The former was born at Caernarvon, the 
latter at Pembroke. From the spirit of a letter written 
by Henry V. to his Chancellor, the bishop of Durham, 
and lately published in original letters edited by Mr. 
Ellis, of the British Museum, the king appears to have 
been a strong-minded man and a shrewd statesman. 

—> 1688. Died, in London, John Bunyan, the far-famed au¬ 
thor of the incomparable allegory entitled, the “Pilgrim’s 
Progress,” one of the most popular books in the English 
language. This singular man was born at Elstow, within 
a mile of Bedford, in 1628. His father was an itinerant 
tinker, and his mother of the like rank; and in the early 
part of life he abandoned himself to all manner of wicked¬ 
ness. He was a soldier in the parliamentary army at the 
siege of Leicester, in 1645. About the year 1665, he 
became a member of a Baptist congregation at Bedford, 
and was afterwards chosen their pastor, and attained un¬ 
common popularity as a preacher. From the time of his 
conversion, his conversation was modest, his behaviour 
exemplary, and his moral character unexceptionable ; 
and his conduct in his own neighbourhood procured him 
the blessed title of a Peace-maker.* Bunyan was in- 


* See Hariner, Index. 



348 


AUGUST. 


terred in a vault belonging to a friend in the Dissenters’ 
burial-place, now called Bunhill-fields, near the Artillery 
Ground, Moorfields, London. 

31, 1805. Expired James Currie, M.D., born at Kirk- 
patrick-Fleming, in Dumfries-shire, on May 31, 1756. 
He settled in Liverpool as a physician in 1781, and soon 
rose into general esteem among the most distinguished 
characters of the place. His medical performances gained 
him great reputation with his brethren; and his publica¬ 
tion of Burns’s works, with an interesting life of that 
rustic son of genius, * * was a rich treat to the lovers of 
poetry and elegant literature; it being equally admired 
for beauty of style, liberality of sentiment, and sagacity 
of remark. Repeated editions produced a balance of 
profit which formed a little fortune for the poet’s destitute 
family; and Dr. Currie might congratulate himself as 
having been one of the most effectual friends of departed 
genius, that the annals of British poetry record. In Nov. 
1804, a pulmonary complaint obliged Dr. Currie to quit 
the climate and business of Liverpool. He spent the 
winter alternately at Clifton and Bath, and in March 
commenced his professional practice in this city; but in 
August went, as a last resource, to Sidmouth, in Devon¬ 
shire, f where, after much suffering, which was borne 
with manly fortitude and pious resignation, he died. His 


* See July 21, 1796. 

+ See Cary’s Eng. Atlas. Sidmouth, a small but rapidly in¬ 
creasing town, lies in the Channel, about midway betwixt Lyme 
and Exmouth. As a tv at ering-place, Sidmouth, in its natural ad¬ 
vantages, yields to none of the retreats of Hygeia.* An air mild 
and salubrious, a soil uncommonly fertile, the purest water con ¬ 
tinually flowing, and a situation defended from every wind but 
the south, give it a pre-eminence over most of those places on 
our coasts which are resorted to for the purposes of health or 
amusement. See an interesting sketch, with an elegant view of 
Sidmouth, in the late Rev. Edmund Butcher’s “ Excursion from 
Sidmouth to Chester:” published in 1805. 


* Hygeia was the goddess of health and the daughter of Aescula¬ 
pius ; she was held in great veneration among the ancients. 

Whatever goods the gods have sent, 

Whate’er to sooth our sorrows lent, 

Hygeia ! power divine ! 

To make them flourish green and gay, 

And bear fresh blossoms every day, 

Goddess ! that gift is thine ! 

Greek Anthology. 




AUGUST. 


349 


life, though much too short to satisfy the wishes of his 
friends and family, was long enough for signal usefulness 
and for lasting fame. See Dr. Aikin’s Memoir of Dr. 
Currie in the Monthly Mag. for October 1805. 

31, 1818. Died, in the 75th year of his age, Harry 
Ashby, a celebrated writing engraver, whose incompa¬ 
rable performances exhibit the brilliancy, and display the 
spirit and freedom, of the most exquisite productions of 
the pen. This distinguished artist moreover displayed 
some of the most beautiful specimens of the graving art 
in the Terms of Schools, Cards of Address, Shop- 
Bills, &c., &c., and especially in Bankers’ Notes. 

Mr. Ashby was born at Wotton-under-Edge, in Glou¬ 
cestershire, and died at Exning, in Suffolk, (within a mile 
of Newmarket,) whither he had retired to enjoy “ a pause 
between the hurry of life and the day of death,” in the 
delightful contemplation of the works of the Almighty, 
and in the joyful expectation of immortality in “ another 
and a better world.” 

“ Give me, indulgent Heav’n ! with mind serene, 

And guiltless heart, to range the sylvan scene. 

There pleasing objects useful thoughts suggest, 

The sense is ravish’d, and the soul is blest; 

On every thorn delightful wisdom grows, 

Tn every rill a sweet instruction flows. 

“ 0 sacred solitude! divine retreat! 

Choice of the prudent ! envy of the great! 

By thy pure stream, or in thy waving shade, 

We court fair wisdom, that celestial maid : 

There blest with health, with bus’ness unperplext, 

This life we relish, and insure the next.” 

See No. 17, Geo. Ewer, on the New Test., 4th edit. 


( 350 ) 


SEPTEMBER. 

“ Now soften’d suns a mellow lustre shed. 

The laden orchards glow with tempting red; 

On hazel boughs the clusters hang embrown’d,* 

And with the sportsman’s war the new-shorn fields 
resound.” 

“ Berries and pulpous fruits of various kinds, 

The promise of the blooming Spring, now yield 
Their rich and wholesome juices ; meant t’ allay 
The ferment of the bilious blood.” 


September is the ninth month of the year reckoned 
from January, and the seventh from March, whence its 
name, viz. from Septimus , seventh . 

The Roman senate would have given this month the 
name of Tiberius, but that emperor opposed it; the em¬ 
peror Domitian gave it his own name Germanicus; the 
senate under Antoninus Pius gave it that of Antoninus; 
Commodus gave it his surname Herculeus, and the em¬ 
peror Tacitus his own name Tacitus. But these appel¬ 
lations are all gone into disuse. 

This is, in general, a very pleasant month, the distin¬ 
guishing softness and serenity of Autumn prevailing 
through great part of it; accordingly Peacham says, 
September is drawn with a merry and cheerful coun¬ 
tenance, in a purple robe. 

About the close of this month is the principal harvest 
of apples; when in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, So¬ 
mersetshire and Devonshire, they are gathered for the 
cider-making. 

-and British vats 

O’erflow with gen'rous cider.- 

Autumn paints 

Ausonianf hills with grapes, whilst English plains 

Blush with pomaceous harvests, breathing sweets. 


* See Arith. Quest, art. Nuts. 

f Ausonia was one of the ancient names of Italy, which it re¬ 
ceived from Auson, the son of Ulysses. 




SEPTEMBER. 


351 


To the utmost bounds of this 
Wide universe Silurian* cider borne. 

Shall please all tastes, and triumph o’er the vine. 

Philips. 

The art of making- cider is a branch of rural occupation 
not unpleasing* in its general aspect, and associated with 
much agreeable imagery. It is the English vintage; the 
product of a kind of culture perhaps not less grateful to the 
senses in all its accompaniments than that of the grape. 
Pomona is no mean rival to Bacchus, and a Herefordshire 
landscape may vie with the scenery of Burgundian hills or 
Andalusian plains. Aikin. 

-Wine delectable, that far surmounts 

Gallic or Latin grapes, or those that see 
The setting suu near Calpe’s tow’ring height; 

Nor let the Rhodian nor the Lesbian vines 

Vaunt their rich must, nor let Tokay contend 

For sov’reignty : Phanaeus’f self must bow 

To th’ Ariconian vales. Philips. 

REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

I, 5508 B. C. The World (according to Julius Africanus, 
as quoted by Gibbon,) was created. Most chronologers, 
however, mention the year 4004 B. C. as the period of 
its first existence. (See Arith. Quest.) The Jews cele¬ 
brate the 19th of September as the day of the creation, 
and some suppose that it was created in Spring. 

God has shewn himself in the Creation, not only a 
Being infinitely wise and powerful, but most kind and 
beneficent. How many real enjoyments and pleasing 
sensations does he grant to all the beneficiaries of his 
bounty, and particularly to man ! 

Wherefore did nature pour her bounties forth. 

With such a full and unwithdrawing hand, 

Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks, 


* Siluria comprehended the counties of Hereford and Mon¬ 
mouth, together with the district now called South Wales. The 
Silures were a warlike, intrepid race, utterly averse to servitude, 
and famous for their valiant opposition to the Romans. Philips, 
in his Poem called “ Cider,” has given a very lively picture of 
Herefordshire. See May. 
f A port in the isle of Chios was called Phanaeum. 





352 


SEPTEMBER. 


Thronging the seas with spawn innumerable, 

But all to please, and sate the curious taste ? 

Milton. 

With what magnificence has the Almighty adorned 
and embellished our planet! The verdant lawn, the 
shady grove, the variegated landscape, the boundless 
ocean, and the starry firmament, are contemplated with 
extreme pleasure by every attentive beholder.* And, 
though the cultivation of this grateful feeling be not com¬ 
patible with the necessary toils and active offices which 
Providence has assigned to the multitude, yet there are 
few to whom such portion of it may not be profitable; 
and if it were cherished by each individual in that degree 
only which is actually consistent with the indispensable 
duties of his station, the felicity of human life would be 
considerably augmented. A taste for the beauties of nature 
not only refines and humanizes, but dignifies and exalts 
the affections. It elevates them to the admiration and 
love of that Glorious Being who is the author of all that 
is fair, sublime, and good, in the world around us: and 
emotions of piety must spring up spontaneously in the 
bosom that is in unison with the whole of animated na¬ 
ture. Actuated by this divine impulse, man finds a fane 
in every grove; and, glowing with devout fervour, he joins 
his song to the universal chorus, or, with one of our best 
poets, muses the praise of the Almighty in more “ ex¬ 
pressive silence.” They 

“ Whom Nature’s works can charm, with God himself 
Hold converse ; grow familiar, day by day, 

With his conceptions ; act upon his plan ; 

And form to his, the relish of their souls.” 

1, St. Giles’s Festival. St. Giles, it is said, was a na¬ 
tive of Athens, and came into France in 715, having first 
disposed of his patrimony to charitable uses. He was 
afterwards made abbot of an abbeyf at Nismes, depart¬ 
ment of Gard, province of Languedoc. 


* See Exer. on the Globes , art. Earth ; and Arith. Quest, art. 
Solar System, and Gardening. See also May 1, 304. Sturm’s 
Reflections contain some excellent papers on the works of 
Creation. 

t When in any society of religious persons, whether male or 
female, one abbot or abbess (so called from the Hebrew, Abba > 
which signifies father in English) presided, then that was called 



SEPTEMBER. 


353 


1, 1159. Died Pope Adrian IV., the only Englishman 
that ever obtained the tiara,* and whose arrogance was 
such, that he obliged Frederick I. to prostrate himself 
before him, kiss his foot, hold his stirrup, and lead the 
white palfrey on which he rode.f His name was Nico- 


an Abbey. This governor had the sole power over the convent. 
But when the chief person in the monastery bore the name of 
Prior, that was styled a Priory. When a certain number of 
secular canons assembled themselves under the government of a 
warden, dean, or provost, they were called a College, ora Col¬ 
legiate Church. When the society of religious persons con¬ 
sisted of men, it was called a Monastery ; when it consisted of 
women, it was styled a Nunnery, probably from the Latin 
Nounce , Nuns or Vestals. Chauntries were chapels erected and 
endowed for the singing of masses for the souls of the deceased. 
Hospitals were houses founded for the entertainment of all who 
performed any religious pilgrimage. The word is derived from 
hospes , a guest; hence our word hospitality , or an entertainment 
of guests. Gilds were societies of lay brethren, who lived toge¬ 
ther like monks, but were of no professed order: hence the mo¬ 
dern word gild, or fraternity of citizens ; and hence Guildhall, 
the place where the Gilds assemble. 

* Tiara, or Tiar, is an ornament or habit wherewith the an¬ 
cient Persians covered their heads ; and with which the Arme¬ 
nians and kings of Pontus are represented ou medals ; these last, 
because they were descended from the Persians. It w r as worn 
in the form of a tower, and sometimes adorned with peacocks’ 
feathers. 

Of beaming sunny rays a golden tiar 

Circled his head. Milton. 

The Jewish priests wore a kind of turbant, when ministering 
in the temple. It may also be remarked, that it was the custom 
among the Greeks and Romans, as well as the Jews, to appear 
in worshipping assemblies with the head covered. It seems, says 
Doddridge, that the Corinthian men wore a veil, out of regard to 
Pharisaical tradition, and in imitation of the custom prevailing in 
the synagogues; which, therefore, the apostle Paul disapproved. 
See 1 Cor. xi. 4. 

Tiara is also the name of the Pope’s triple crown. The tiara 
and keys are the badges of the papal dignity ; the tiara, ot his 
civil rank ; and the keys, of his jurisdiction : for as soon as the 
Pope is dead, his arms are represented with the tiara aloue, with¬ 
out the keys. The ancient tiara was a round high cap. John 
XXIII. first encompassed it with a crown : Boniface VIII. added 
a second crown; aud Benedict XII. a third. See Arith. Quest. 
art. Turbant. 

f See July 8, 1174, and Pope, Index. 




354 


SEPTEMBER. 


las Brekespeare, a native of Abbots-Langley, a village 
near St. Alban’s, Herts. He was elected to the Popedom 
in 1154. 

1, 1651. Robinson Crusoe, according to De Foe’s story, 
began his disastrous voyage, by going on board a ship at 
Hull, bound for London. (See Sept. 11, 1703.) The 
true history of this entertaining work, when divested of 
fabulous embellishment, is this : One Alexander Selkirk, 
being sailing-master of a vessel named the Cinque Ports 
Galley, which was navigating the Pacific Ocean, was put 
ashore on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez* as a 
punishment for mutiny. In that solitude he remained four 
years and four months; when he was relieved and brought 
to England by Captain Woodes Rogers, an account of 
whose voyage round the world was printed in 1712, about 
seven years before the publication of Robinson Crusoe. 
The celebrated Daniel De Foe formed the charming novel 
of Robinson Crusoe from this account, in which he has 
given an example of what the unassisted energies of an 
individual of the human race can perform. De Foe was 
born in London, 1663, was the son of a butcher, and died 
at Islington, 1.731. He was greatly admired for his inte¬ 
grity, firmness of character, and nervous writings in de¬ 
fence of liberty. 

“ For never Briton more disdain’d a slave.” 

Alexander Selkirk was born at Largo, a parish of Fife- 
shire, in Scotland. The chest and musket which he had 
with him in his solitary abode, are now in the possession 
of his grand-nephew, John Selkirk, weaver, in Largo. 
He died on board the Weymouth, a king’s ship, of which 
he was mate, in 1723. 

— 1715. Death of Louis XIV., King of France, who ex¬ 
pired in the 77th year of his age, and the 73rd of his 
reign. He died at the palace of Versailles, which he him¬ 
self had built. The reign of Louis has been stvled the 
Augustan age of literature in France. Its early years 
were also marked by high military glory. The ambition 
of the French monarch was, however, effectually curbed 
by the illustrious Marlborough, and the sun of Louis de¬ 
clined amidst the dark clouds of adversity. 

—— the haughty king 

Far humbler thoughts now learns : despair and fear 


* A small island west of Chili, in South America. 






SEPTEMBER. 


355 


Now first he feels; his laurels all at once 
Torn from his aged head in life’s extreme, 

Distract his soul. 

Philip’s Blenheim. 

The death of Louis XIV. occasioned universal joy among’ 
the French people. On the day of his funeral, tents were 
set up on the roads to St. Denis, where crowds passed the 
day, shouting whenever the procession appeared, and 
drinking, laughing, and singing, on the happy occasion of 
the death of their sovereign. Yet they were the same 
people who, in 1686, had shed tears of alarm and anxiety 
during the king’s illness, and who, in 1690 and 1699, had 
burst forth in tumultuous joy at a report of the death of 
William III. The misfortunes of the war, the misery of the 
people, and the gloomy tyranny which the Jesuits had 
exercised during the last years of Louis, were the chief 
causes of this revolution of popular feeling. It is reported 
that when he was very young, his mother had said to him, 
“ My son, resemble your grandfather, and not your 
fatherand the king asking the reason, “ Because,” she 
answered, “ the people cried at the death of Henry IV., 
and luug'hed at that of Louis the Thirteenth.” Lord J. 
Russell’s Hist, of Europe. 

1, 1729. Died, Sir Richard Steele, at his seat, after¬ 
wards an Inn, but now known by the Cambrian appella¬ 
tion of Ty Gicn, or the White House of Llangunnor, near 
Caermarthen, in Wales. He was the author of several 
plays and many political tracts. Assisted by Addison 
and a few other celebrated writers,* he published the 
Tatleii, Spectator, and Guardian; and it may be 
said, with the greatest truth and impartiality, that no wri¬ 
ters of any age, in any country, ever contributed so much, 
or so eminently, to the intellectual improvement and 
moral refinement of their contemporaries and posterity. 
Sir Richard was born in Dublin, in 1671, or, according to 
Bisset, in 1675, and was buried at Caermarthen. He has 
been styled " The Father of English Essay.” See May 
30, note, p. 207- 


* Dr. Drake, in the 3rd vol. of his “ Essays on the Tatler, 
Spectator, and Guardian,” has enumerated forty-six individuals 
who were the occasional correspondents of Steele and Addison ; 
the principal of whom were, Budgell, Pope, Swift, Tickell, 
Hughes, Berkeley, Gay, Parnell, Young, Phillips, Congreve, Fleet- 
wood, Watts, Rowe, Byrom, Eusden, and Grove. 




356 


SEPTEMBER. 


1, 1804. London Stone. A fire happened in Cannon 
Street, adjacent to London Stone. This stone is one of 
the greatest pieces of antiquity in the metropolis, and is 
now placed in a case in the south wall of St. Swithin’s 
church. It is mentioned so early as the time of Atliel- 
stan. King of the West Saxons, and has been carefully 
preserved from age to age. Of the original cause of its 
erection, no memorial remains; but it is conjectured that, 
as London was a Roman city, this stone might be the 
centre, and serve as an object whence the distance was 
computed to the other considerable cities or stations in 
the province. It seems to have been regarded with a 
superstitious reverence as the Palladium of the city. 
When Jack Cade, at the head of his rebel army, entered 
London, he struck his sword on this stone, saying, “ Now 
is Mortimer Lord of this city.” 

— 1804. The year 1804 was as remarkable as were the 
years 1801 and 1802, since it presented us with the dis¬ 
covery of a new planet. Mr. Harding, of Lilienthal, near 
Bremen, in the north of Germany, on this day discovered 
a new planet, to which it has been proposed to give the 
name of Juno. But the late famous astronomer Lalande 
said, that he would never call the planets recently disco¬ 
vered by any other names than Herschel, Piazza, Ol- 
bers, and Harding; contending that mythological names 
were perfectly unmeaning. If we call the planets of the 
ancients by the names by which they were known to them, 
that is necessary for the purpose of understanding them, 
and the names indicate the attributes of the deity whose 
name was given to the planet. The most brilliant planet 
was called Venus, because she was the most beautiful of 
the Goddesses. Can it be said, that the planet Olbers 
was called Pallas, because that planet is the emblem of 
wisdom and knowledge ? Why should that of Piazzi be 
called Ceres ? Has it any connexion with the harvest ? 
With respect to the new planets, these names are insigni¬ 
ficant and misplaced; and appear to have been derived 
from ancient fable only to deprive astronomers of the re- 
compence of their labours, of the gratitude that is due to 
them, and of the emulation which may thence result; it 
is, continues Lalande, a contemptible jealousy and offen¬ 
sive ingratitude. See March 13, 1/81; January 1, 1801; 
March 28, 1802; and Exer. on the Globes , 11th edition, 
art. Solar System. 

— 1806. Irish Giant. Died, at his apartments upon the 


SEPTEMBER. 


357 


Hotwell-Road, Bristol, in the 46th year of his age, Mr. 
Patrick O’Bryen,* usually denominated the Irish Giant. 
He was eight feet five inches in height, and exhibited his 
person for many years in this country as a species of gi¬ 
gantic phenomenon, by which he realized an independence 
sufficient to enable him to enjoy the comforts and conve¬ 
niences of life in retirement. He was born of obscure 
parents at Kinsale, in the south of Ireland. See Arith. 
Quest, art. Giants. 

2, 31 B. C. Battle of Actium. Actiurn was a small 
city on the Ambracian gulf, north of the island of St. 
Maura or Leucadia, in Turkey in Europe. There the 
fleet of Octavius, afterwards Augustus Caesar, defeated 
the conjoined fleets of Antony and Cleopatra. This vic¬ 
tory firmly established the supreme power of Octavius at 
Rome. See Arith. Quest ., and Aug. 19, A.D. 14. 

— 1666. Fire of London. See the particulars in the 
Arith. Quest. 

— 1/52. The New Style was adopted at London, by re¬ 
trenching eleven days from the calendar; (the ensuing 
day, Sept. 3, being reckoned the 14th;) and to preserve it 
in the same regular course for the future, there are certain 
years called leap-years, consisting of 366 days, introduced 
every 4th year, to recover the six hours which the sun 
spends in his course each year, beyond the 365 days usu¬ 
ally allowed for that purpose. Provision is also made for 
the 44 minutes which the Bessextile or Leap Year adds 
more than the sun spends in returning to the same point 
of the zodiac. See Dr. Rees’s New Cyclopedia i art. 
Calendar, and Bissextile. 

Style in chronology, is either old or new. The old 
style , called also the Julian, from its reformation by Julius 
Caesar, about 42 years B. C., agrees with the Julian year, 
which contains 365 days, 6 hours. 

The Gregorian, or new style , corresponds with the true 
solar year, which contains only 365 days, 5 hours, and 49 
minutes. 

In the year of Christ 200, there was no difference of 
styles; but now there has arisen a difference of 11 days 
between the old and the new style, the latter being so 
much before-hand with the former: so that when a person 
using the old style dates the 1st of May, those who employ 
the new, reckon the 12th. From this variation in the 


* His real name, it is said, was Cotter. 




358 


SEPTEMBER. 


computation of time, we may easily account for tlie differ¬ 
ence of many dates concerning historical facts and bio¬ 
graphical notices: e. g. some historians inform us, that 
Henry IV. of France was assassinated May 3d, others 
the 14th; some biographers date the birth of Thomson on 
the 11th, others on the 22d of September; and the British 
Chronologist states the 24th May, 1738, as the birth-day 
of our late venerable George III., which every one 
knows was celebrated on the 4th of June. 

2, 1/92. Septemberizers. A dreadful massacre took 
place in Paris. The different prisons were broken open, 
and all the state prisoners butchered in the most horrible 
manner. Some accounts state the number of persons 
slain on this occasion at 1,200, others at 4,000. The 
agents in this dreadful slaughter of innocent victims were 
branded with the title of Septemberizers. 

— 1813. Died, the famous General Moreau, who had 
quitted France during Napoleon’s government. He was 
mortally wounded near Dresden on the 27th of August. 
He was born at Morlaix, in 1761, and buried at Peters¬ 
burg!]. See Anth. Quest., art. Turenne. 

3, The martyrologists mention Phebe, a deaconess of the 
church at Cenchrea, called the port of Corinth. St. Paul 
had a particular esteem for this holy woman; at whose 
house some think that he lodged, at least occasionally.* 
It is supposed that she carried to Rome the epistle which 
he wrote to the Romans, wherein she is highly com¬ 
mended. (Rom. xvi. 1.) In quality of deaconess it is 
imagined that she was employed by the church in some 
ministrations suitable to her sex and condition; such 
as to visit and instruct Christian women, to attend them 
in sickness, distribute alms to them, &c., &c. See No. 
142, Geo. Eater, on the New Testament , and Cenchrea, 
Geo. Index. 

Priscilla was another excellent woman, well known 
in the Acts and in St. Paul’s epistles. She seems, in¬ 
deed, to have been a person of great note, and pro¬ 
bably of distinguished genius and influence; which ap¬ 
pears not only from the manner in which she is men¬ 
tioned by St. Paul, but also from the edification which 
the eloquent Apollos received from her instructions, in 
concurrence with those of her husband We feel a sin¬ 
gular gratification in transcribing the following illustra- 


* See Aquila aud Priscilla, July 8. 



SEPTEMBER. 


359 


tive observations of a distinguished commentator : “ We 
find,” says Dr. Doddridge, “ that some of the pious and 
much-esteemed friends of the apostle Paul were women, 
of whom he speaks with great regard, as of persons who 
had been useful in the church; who had been helpers of 
many, and particularly of himself. Eminently service¬ 
able,” continues the Doctor, “ have many of them been. 
The most valuable ministers have often been assisted by 
them, in the success of their work; while their pious 
care, under the restraint of the strictest decorum, has 
happily and effectually influenced children,* servants, 
and young friends; yea, has been the means of sowing 
the seeds of religion in tender minds, before they have 
been capable of coming under ministerial care.”f Fam . 
Expos. 

3, 1189. Richard I. was crowned at Westminster; when 
the mob falling upon the Jews, who came to offer their 
presents, murdered many of them, and plundered their 
houses. This infamous conduct of the Londoners was 
followed in many parts of the country. Richard was of 
the Plantagenet line. See Arith. Tables , p. 26. 

— 1191. Richard I. obtained a signal victory over Sa- 
ladin in the Holy Land. The king shortly after em¬ 
barked for England; but was unfortunately shipwrecked 
near Aquileia, in the north part of the Gulf of Venice, 
and, taking the road to Vienna, was seized by the Duke 
of Austria, who sent him prisoner to the Emperor, 
Henry VI. See Feb. 4, 1194, and Miscell. Quest, in 
En<r. Hist. 

— 1634. Died, at Stoke Pogeis, Bucks, Sir Edward 
Coke, Lord Chief Justice of England, and one of the 
greatest lawyers this kingdom has produced. He was 
born at Mileham, 5 miles north of East Dereham, Nor¬ 
folk. In 1600 he prosecuted, as Attorney-General, the 
Earls of Essex and Southampton. Three years after he 
conducted the prosecution of Sir Walter Raleigh, and 


* To whom under God did the Jewish church owe a Samuel ? 
To a wise and pious Hannah. To whom did the Christian 
church owe a Timothy? To Lois and Eunice. Religion, says 
one of our most distinguished writers, may accept, without a 
blush, the services of the purest and most gentle portion of the 
human species. 

t Some of the greatest characters of ancient and modern 
times have been educated by women. See the Preface to the 
Arith. Quest. 10th edit. See also Gardiner and Day, Index. 





360 


SEPTEMBER. 


treated him in a manner but little consistent with his 
assumed love of justice. His speeches at the trial of the 
conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, are deemed his 
master-pieces. His “ Institutes' 1 ' are invaluable. 

3, 1650. Battle of Dunbar. Cromwell gained a com¬ 
plete victory over the Scotch army at Dunbar, in the shire 
of Haddington, Scotland. The Scots, though double in 
number to the English, were soon put to flight and pur¬ 
sued with great slaughter, 3,000 being slain, and 9,000 
taken prisoners. . . 

— 1651. Battle of Worcester. Cromwell gained a 
celebrated victory over Charles II. at Worcester, the 
streets of the city being strewed with the dead, and the 
whole Scotch army being either killed or taken prisoners. 
This famous battle, which permanently established Crom¬ 
well’s power, afforded him what he called his crowning 
mercy. Milton, in a sonnet addressed to him, says. 

While Darwen stream with blood of Scots imbrued, 

And Dunbar field resounds thy praises loud, 

And fVorcester's laureat wreath. 

An account of Charles’s escape, after this battle, to the 
continent, is given in the Ewer. on the Globes, lltli edit, 
art. Robur Caroli. 

— 1653. Died, at the Spa, in Germany, Claudius Sal- 
masius, a French historian and critic, of most uncommon 
abilities and immense erudition, born at Seinur, depart¬ 
ment of Cote d’Or, province of Burgundy, France, 1596. 
See Dec. 9, 1608. 

— 1658. Death of Cromwell. On this day, which he 
had always considered as the most fortunate for him, ex¬ 
pired Oliver Cromwell, in the 60th year of his age. A 
violent tempest, which immediately succeeded his death, 
served as a subject of discourse to the vulgar. His par- 
tizans, as well as his enemies, were fond of remarking 
this event; and each of them endeavoured, by forced in¬ 
ferences, to interpret it as a confirmation of their particu¬ 
lar prejudices. It may be here remarked, that it has been 
common to connect “prodigies and portents dire” with 
the birth or death of extraordinary personages. (See But¬ 
ler’s Ewer, on New Testament , page 7, note.) Some of 
the Heathens, for instance, had a notion that storms and 
earthquakes occasionally attend the death of extraordinary 
persons, peculiarly dear to the gods. Plutarch tells us, 
that when Ptolemy crucified Cleomenes, while the body 
hung dead on the cross, a large serpent wound itself 


SEPTEMBER. 


361 


round Itis face, and defended it from birds of prey; 
whence the Egyptians concluded that he was a hero more 
than mortal, and a son of the gods. And historians re¬ 
late many prodigies as having preceded the death of Julius 
Caesar. Virgil has a fine digression concerning them in 
his. first Georgic; and Ovid gives an account of them, 
which is thought to be an imitation of Virgil. Our great 
bard had, no doubt, these descriptions in his eye, when he 
penned the following equally hyperbolical and incredible, 
though beautiful, passage on the same subject: 

A little ere the mightiest Julius fell. 

The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead 
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets; 

Stars shone with trains of lire, dews of blood fell, 
Disasters veil’d the sun ; and the moist star, 

Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands, 

Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse. 

The vulgar ignorance of mistaking natural events for mi¬ 
racles, is, however, finely ridiculed by Shakspeare, in a 
dialogue between Glendovver and Hotspur in Henry IV. 
The former having affirmed that 

At his nativity, 

The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, 

The frame and the foundation of the earth 
Shook like a coward- 

the rational and investigating Hotspur aptly replies. 

Why, so it would have done, 

At the same seasou, if your mother’s cat 

Had kitten’d, though yourself had ne’er been born. 

After the Restoration, the body of Cromwell, which had 
been interred with the greatest magnificence in Westmin¬ 
ster Abbey, was, by order of Charles II., together with 
those of Ireton and Bradshaw, dragged from its grave, 
and treated with circumstances of indignity too horrible 
to relate. This act of mean revenge on the remains of 
departed greatness, was worthy of that profligate whose 
reign was marked throughout by a constant warfare with 
the liberties of his subjects, and who closed his odious 
career with the blood of a Russell, of a Sidney, and of a 
Vane. 

3, 1783. Died, Lady Pennington. Family misunder¬ 
standings having separated this lady from her children, 
she wrote for their use “An unfortunate Mother’s Advice 
to her absent Daughters j” a work of great merit, and 

It 



362 


SEPTEMBER. 


which all parents may advantageously put into the hands 
of their female offspring. Lady P. was the wife of Sir 
Joseph Pennington, of Water Hall, Yorkshire. 

3, 1789. William Cawsey, a farrier from London, was 
struck dead by lightning while standing under a tree in 
the Earl of Aylesford’s Park, at Packington, a village to 
the east of Birmingham, in Warwickshire.* To comme¬ 
morate this awful event, as well as to warn others from 
exposing themselves to the same danger, by taking shelter 
in a thunder-storm under trees,\ his Lordship caused a 
handsome monument to be erected oil the spot; a distin¬ 
guished instance of the most laudable humanity associated 
with the most elevated rank. Nobilitatis virtus , non stem- 
ma character ; J Virtue , not pedigree , should characterize 
nobility .§ 

Les homines sont £gaux; ce n’est point la naissance, 

C’est la seule vertu qui fait la difference. 

Voltaire. 

4, 1566. Soliman the Magnificent, emperor of the 
Turks, died while besieging Sigeth, in Hungary. He was 
contemporary with some of the greatest sovereigns of 
Europe, and none of them surpassed him in valour, pru¬ 
dence, and application to government. He had reigned 
forty-six years. 

— 1657. Admiral Blake was interred with great magni¬ 
ficence, in Westminster Abbey, at the expense of Crom¬ 
well ;|| but an insult combining unexampled meanness 
and impotent malice was afterwards put upon his illustri¬ 
ous corpse by Charles II., who, in 1661, ordered it to be 
removed to St. Margaret’s church-yard. Blake was an 
eminent commander both by sea and land, and no officer 
ever more nobly illustrated the honour of the British 
colours. 

— 1819. Captain Parry, in the Hecla, at a quarter past 


in August 1807, a labourer, while standing under a tree, at 
Bristington, in Derbyshire, was struck dead by lightning. 

Athenceum Mag • Vol. II. p. 291. 

f See Exer. on the Globes, art. Lightning, and July 31, 1718. 

+ The motto of Earl Grosvenor. 

§ See Prior, Index, and Arith. Quest, art. Nobility, true; and 
Potatoes. 

|| See August 17, 1657. 



SEPTEMBER. 


363 


nine P. M., had the satisfaction of crossing the meridian 
of lit) W., from Greenwich, in the lat. of 74. 44; by 
which his ship and the Griper, his companion, became 
entitled to the sum of 5000/., being the reward offered by 
the King’s order in council to such of his Majesty’s sub¬ 
jects as might succeed in penetrating thus far to the west¬ 
ward within the Arctic circle. See Eocer. on the Globes , 
11 th edit. 

4, 1825. Died, Frederick Howard, Earl of Carlisle, at 
his seat, Castle Howard, 6 miles from Malton, and 15 from 
York. In 1780 he was appointed Viceroy of Ireland, and 
continued in that high office till 1782. His Lordship, as 
well as a statesman, was also a votary of the Muses, having 
published some tragedies, many poetical effusions, parti¬ 
cularly “ An Ode on the Death of Gray,” &c., &c , and a 
translation from Dante of the affecting death of Count 
Ugolino. See Pisa, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

5, 1548. Expired, Catharine Parr. She was the eldest 
daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, of Kendal, in Westmore¬ 
land; and was first married to John Nevil, Lord Laty- 
mer; after whose demise she so captivated her amorous 
sovereign, Henry VIII., that he raised her to the throne.* 
In a short time after the king’s death,f she was espoused 
to Sir Thomas Seymour, (afterwards Lord Sudley,) Lord 
Admiral of England, and died in child-bed in Sudley 
Castle, which is situated thirteen miles from Gloucester, 
and eight from Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire, where 
her body was discovered October 14, 1786.| The histo¬ 
rians of the period in which she lived, generally insinuate 
that she was poisoned by her husband, to make way for 
another anticipated marriage with the princess, afterwards 
queen, Elizabeth. 

That Catharine Parr was beautiful is beyond a doubt: 
that she was pious and learned is evident from her writ¬ 
ings : and that her prudence and sagacity were not infe¬ 
rior to her other accomplishments, may be concluded 
from her holding up the passion of a capricious tyrant, as 
a shield against her enemies; and that too, at the latter 
end of his days, when his passions were enfeebled by age, 
and his peevish austerity increased by disease. 


* See July 12, 1543. f See January 28, 1547. 

J See the Archceologia , Vol. IX. p. 2; and the Monthly Mag. 
Nov. 1804, p. 324. 



364 


SEPTEMBER. 


5, 156.9. Died, Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London, 
born at Hanley, south of Worcester, and famous (or 
rather infamous) for his cruel treatment of the Protes¬ 
tants in the reign of Queen Mary, whose right hand he 
was in the unholy work of persecution. Nature seems to 
have designed him for an executioner. He died in the 
Marshalsea prison, whither he had been committed for 
refusing to take the oaths of allegiance to Queen Eliza¬ 
beth, and was privately buried in St. George’s church¬ 
yard, Southwark. 

— 1638. Louis XIV. was born at St. Germains. See 
September 1. 

— 1786. Died, aged 74, Jonas Hanway, Esq., whose 
name will live while active piety shall distinguish the 
Christian, integrity and truth shall recommend the British 
merchant,* * * § and universal kindness shall characterize the 
citizen of the world. He was born at Portsmouth, in 
Hampshire; was personally engaged in commercial avo¬ 
cations in Lisbon, in Petersburgli, in Persia, and in Lon¬ 
don; and when he became a private gentleman, devoted 
the last thirty years of his life almost exclusively to the 
service of mankind;—to acts of humanityf and private 
benevolence; and to the promotion of schemes productive 
of national good. The Marine Society,]; the Magdalen,§ 
and the Foundling charities, were among the paramount 
objects of his assiduous care. 

Mr. Hanway was interred at Hanwell, on the Uxbridge 


* See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Merchant. 

+ Some of these were—his animated exertions in favour of 
the forlorn chimney-sweepers; see May-Day;—his cordial sup. 
port of Sunday-Schools; see the Introduction; — and his kind 
attention even to the brute creation; see Arith. Quest. 10th edit, 
art. Horse. 

X The object of this excellent establishment is, to fit out land- 
men volunteers, to serve as seamen on board the king’s ships in 
the time of war, and for equipping distressed hoys to serve at sea 
at all times. The office is in Bishopsgate-Street; and a vessel 
called the Thom, large enough to receive 100 boys, is moored 
between Deptford and Greenwich, with proper persons to in¬ 
struct them in nautical and moral duties. 

§ A brief account of the Magdalen and Foundling is given in 
the Arith. Quest. See also Magdalen, Mary, Index. 



SEPTEMBER. 


365 


road, eight miles from London. The public regard for 
his philanthropic virtues was evinced by a voluntary sub¬ 
scription for a monument to perpetuate his memory, 
which has been erected in Westminster Abbey. 

5, 1806. The London Gazette Extraordinary announced a 
victory obtained on the 4th of July, by the English, com¬ 
manded by Major-General Sir John Stuart, over nearly 
double the number of French, commanded by General 
Regnier. This brilliant achievement was accomplished on 
the plains of Maida, a village in Calabria, in the southern 
part of Italy, a few miles from the Bay of St. Euphemia; 
lat. 39° North, long. 16§° East. 

— 1816. The public sustained an irreparable loss by the 
death of Thomas Tomkins, the matchless penman. Mr. 
Tomkins, by a boldness, originality, and inexhaustible 
variety of designing, united to uncommon brilliancy and 
freedom in the execution of decorative and ornamental 
writing, has given the utmost reputation to the art of 
penmanship of which it is susceptible, and beyond which 
it seems impossible for human genius to reach. An in¬ 
spection of his manuscript performances, some of which 
may be seen in the Chamber of the City, Guildhall, Lon¬ 
don, and of his engraved specimens in his “ Beauties of 
Penmanship,” &c., &c., will amply confirm this opinion. 
A singularly elegant copy of Macklin’s Bible, to which 
Mr. T. prefixed titles to each book in plain and orna¬ 
mental writing, was bequeathed by him to the British 
Museum, together with his bust in beautiful white mar¬ 
ble, by that exquisite artist Chantrey. 

The transcendent merit of some addresses, which were 
beautifully written by Mr. Tomkins, and presented to his 
late Majesty George III. and his queen, from the Royal 
Academy, induced Sir Joshua Reynolds, then President, 
to paint Mr. Tomkins’s portrait, which is not only con¬ 
sidered as one of the finest efforts of that great artist’s 
pencil, but is one of the last, we know indeed the very 
last picture that Sir Joshua painted before the melancholy 
loss of his sight.* That the President’s last touches were 


* Mr. Turner, the engraver, published a mezzotinto from this 
chef-d'uiuvre of Sir Joshua, and, as it is a very happy imitation 
of the original, it is of course an excellent resemblance of Mr. 
Tomkins. 

Oft have I bless’d the artists that can steal 
From absence half its bitterness ; reveal 



366 


SEPTEMBER. 


reserved for a portrait of the late lamented Mr. Fox, is 
asserted upon an authority too respectable for us to con¬ 
trovert. (See Testimonies to the Genius and Memory of 
Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Feb. 23, 1792.) Mr. Tomkins 
bequeathed his portrait to the City; and it has been ap¬ 
propriately placed in the Chamber of the City, surrounded 
by nearly sixty of his own inimitable performances. 

Many of his smaller works, which are admirably adapt¬ 
ed for the improvement of youth in fair writing, were 
also engraved by the late Mr. Ashby, the most eminent 
engraver of his day.* 

Mr.Tomkins also published an attractive work, entitled, 
“Rays of Genius,” designed and adapted to excite in 


The form of one belov’d, and bless our eyes 
With friends that long have wander’d other skies.f 

Hayley. 

As it has been well observed by the Bard of Avon , that 

“ The man that hath not music in himself, 

Nor is not mov’d with concord of sweet sounds. 

Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils 

so may it be said of the man who has no taste for the sister art 
of painting. 

Immortal Art! nor sense of taste has he, 

Nor glow of soul, who finds no charm in thee; 

His heart is shut to Nature—coarse and cold, 

A clumsy cast of her half-finish’d mould. 

For such in vain the beams of Beauty rise, 

Adorn the earth, or glitter in the skies : 

In vain her charms th’ enchantress Fancy strings. 

To deck the rough reality of things ; 

To lure from low delights of sense, and raise 
The ambrosial relish of immortal praise. 

Well husk’d, and hard to every touch of grace, 

They live a sordid, sensual, selfish race; 

Their passions grovelling and their pleasures gross. 

Their very virtues, like their minds, morose : 

With evil eye they view the gentler train 
Of peaceful joys, and pant for riot’s reign ; 

Foment the civil feud—the factious jar, 

Harsh heard in discord still and ripe for war. 

Shee’s Commemoration of Sir J. Reynolds. 

* See August 31, 1818. 


1 See Arith . Quest , art. Painting, and Exer.on the Globes , 11th edit. 




SEPTEMBER. 


36 / 


youth a desire for literary pursuits, and to recommend 
the cultivation of refined taste and virtuous affections. 
See Exer on the Globes , 11th edit. art. Sculpture. 

He died at his house in Sermon Lane, Doctors’ Com¬ 
mons, in the 74tli year of his age. He was born in London, 
spent the early part of life in the village of Hackney, and 
was interred at Chiswick Church, where a monument is 
erected to his memory, executed by Chantrey. The tab¬ 
let contains a medallion of the deceased in that sculptor’s 
happiest manner, with emblems expressive of Mr. Tom¬ 
kins’s professional powers, and an appropriate inscrip¬ 
tion. See April 12, 1700, and Nov. 29, 1798. 

6, 1492. On this day Columbus, being on his first voyage, 
departed from Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, in the 
Atlantic Ocean. 

— 1709. Shakspeare’s Jubilee.* On this and two 
succeeding days, a jubilee, conducted by Mr. Garrick,f 
was celebrated at Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, 
in honour of our immortal bard; J a ceremony which 
very much engaged the public attention. An entertain¬ 
ment of the same name was performed the succeeding 
winter at Drurv-Lane Theatre, ninety-two nights, with 
great applause, to very crowded audiences. 

— 1769. A very beautiful Comet, moving with great 
swiftness, was seen in London; its tail stretched across 


* Jubilee, in a modern sense, denotes a grand church solem¬ 
nity or ceremony, celebrated occasionally at Rome, wherein the 
Pope grants a plenary indulgence to all sinners; at least to as 
many as visit the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Rome. 

Jubilee, among the Jews, denotes every 50th year; a period of 
universal joy and festivity, at which time all slaves were made 
free, and all lands reverted to their ancient owners. The politi¬ 
cal design of this law was, to prevent the too great oppressions 
of the poor, as well as their being liable to perpetual slavery. By 
this means a kind of equality was preserved through all the fa¬ 
milies of Israel, and the distinction of tribes was also preserved, 
that they might be able, when there was occasion, on the jubilee - 
year, to prove their right to the inheritance of their ancestors. 
The institution of these festivals is in Lev. xxv. 8, 17. They were 
not regarded after the Babylonish captivity. The jubilee has been 
supposed to be typical of the gospel state and dispensation, de¬ 
scribed bv Isaiah, in reference to this period, as the “ acceptable 
year of the Lord.” Chap. lxi. 1, 2. Biblical critics are greatly at 
variance concerning the derivation of the word jubilee. 


f See January 20, 1779. 


I See April 23, 1616. 



368 


SEPTEMBER 


the heavens, like an immense luminous arch, thirty-six 
millions of miles in length, and presented an inconceiv¬ 
ably magnificent spectacle. The most brilliant pheno¬ 
menon that accompanies a comet is the stream of light 
which we call its tail; and the computed length of that 
which appeared in 1811,. and was so- remarkably con¬ 
spicuous, was, on the 15th of October, according to the 
late Dr. Herschel, upwards of 100 millions of miles, and 
its apparent greatest breadth, at the same time, 15 mil¬ 
lions of miles. Philos. Trans. Royal Society , for 1812. 

These erratic bodies were formerly viewed with amaze¬ 
ment and terror. 

Hast thou not seen the comet’s flaming flight ? 

The illustrious stranger passing, terror sheds 
On gazing nations from his fiery train, 

Of length enormous, takes his ample round 
Through depths of ether. Young. 

The friends of mental culture have remarked with great 
satisfaction, that now, even by the least instructed of the 
people, their appearance only excites admiration. Comets 
are, therefore, no longer regarded,, at least in this country, 
as signs of the Divine displeasure, or predicting the death 
of princesa gratifying proof that the boundaries of 
darkness are carried further off, and that encroachments 
are continually making on the empire of superstition.* 


* Shakspeare makes Calphurnia observe, in her reply to Caesar's 
expressing his determination to go to the senate notwithstanding 
the appearance of comets and the predictions of his death. 

When beggars die, there are no comets seen ; 

The heavens themselves blaze forth the death, of princes. 

Suetonius, in his Life of Julius Caesar, says, that during the 
games which his heir Augustus gave in honour of his memory, a 
comet blazed for seven days together, rising always about eleven* 
o’clock ; and it was supposed to be the soul of Caesar, now re¬ 
ceived into heaven ; for which reason, too, a star was fixed upon 
the crown of his statue. Horace says that it made a considerable- 
figure in the heavens. 

And, like the moon, the feebler fires among, 

Conspicuous shines the Julian star. 

Book I. Ode xii. Francis* 

To this comet Virgil also alludes in his 9th Eclogue. 

Why still consult for ancient signs, the skies ? 

Daphnis 1 behold the Julian star arise L 




SEPTEMBER. 


369 


See Exet. on the Globes, 11th edit.; Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit. art. Comets ; and Geo. Exer . on the New Testament , 
4th edit. p. 7* * 

1821. Expired, at Tunbridge, in Kent, Dr. Vicesimus 
Knox, a learned divine, and an elegant writer in the 
Belles Lettres. He was born in 1/52, at Newington 
Green, near London, and was many years Master of Tun¬ 
bridge School. Dr. Knox’s publications were numerous. 
His most celebrated work was a treatise on “Liberal 
Education,” in which the defects in the education of 
youth in this country are judiciously pointed out: the re¬ 
marks made in it may claim the high merit of having 
introduced some improvements in the code of discipline 
at Oxford. As a pulpit orator Dr. Knox was eminent: 
he was dignified and impressive; and he never withheld 
the powerful aid of his ministerial eloquence whenever it 
was solicited in Favour of the numerous charities which 
shed so bright a lustre on the present age. 

7, 1533. Queen Anne BoLeyn, wife of Henry VIII, 
was delivered of a daughter at Greenwich, who received 
the name of Elizabeth, and who afterwards became Queen 
of England. 

— 1783. Expired, at Petersburgh, Leonard Euler, an 
eminent writer on mathematics, born at Basil, in Switzer¬ 
land, in 1707. For the universality of his knowledge he 
was perhaps unequalled by any person of his time. 

— 1812. The Battle of the Borodino or Moskwa was 
fought between the French and Russians. The former 
were commanded by Napoleon, and the latter by Koutou- 
soff, who retreated to Moscow. See Sept. 14. 

When Alexander, Emperor of Russia, announced to 
the brave KoutousofF his elevation to the rank of Prince 
of Smolensko, for his services during the campaign of 
1812, he sent with his letter a most valuable jewel, taken 
from the imperial crown, as a tribute to the valour of a 
man by whom it had been so ably defended. He directed 
the vacancy thus occasioned to be filled up with a small 
gold plate, on which was inscribed KoutousofF.* Lite - 
rarj/ Gazette , February 11, 1826. 

8, 1656. Died Dr. Joseph Hall, at Heigham, thirteen 


Whose power the fields with copious corn shall fill, 
And clothe with richer grapes each sunny hill. 

* KoutousofF died in 1813. 

R 3 


Warton 



370 


SEPTEMBER. 


miles from Norwich. This pious, learned, and amiable 
minister was chaplain to Prince Henry, James I/s son, 
who had a great regard for him. He Was afterwards 
bishop of Norwich. His “ Meditations” abound in fine 
thoughts, expressed in excellent language. He was born 
in 1574, at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicestershire. Being 
an enemy to burying in churches, he directed that his own 
body should be interred in the churchyard. This request, 
however, was disregarded, as he was interred in the chan¬ 
cel of Heigham church, in which there is a monument to 
his memory. British Critic , July 1827. 

He was honourably characterized by his moderation and 
tolerant spirit. The style and matter of his compositions 
have procured him the title of the Christian Seneca. 

8, 1727. Burwell Fire. About nine o’clock in the 
evening of this day, a most dreadful fire broke out in a 
barn at Burwell, near Newmarket, in Cambridgeshire, in 
which a number of persons were assembled to see a pup¬ 
pet-show, seventy-six of whom perished instantly; and 
two more died of their wounds within two days. This 
dismal catastrophe was occasioned by the negligence of a 
servant, who placed a candle in or near a heap of straw 
which was in the barn. Among the unhappy sufferers 
were several young ladies of fortune, and many children. 
See the particulars in the Beauties of England, Vol. II. 
p. 142. 

.9, 1087- Died William the Conqueror, at Hermen- 
trude, a village near Rouen. He was buried at Caen, the 
capital of Lower Normandy, in a church which he himself 
had founded. (See January 1, 1067.) A costly tomb 
was erected by his son, William Rufus. In 1522, an 
archbishop and a cardinal of Rome, then visiting Caen, 
being desirous of seeing the body of William, caused the 
tomb to be opened, when the Conqueror’s remains were 
found exactly in the same state in which they had been 
interred. The Hugonots, in their wars, plundered and 
destroyed the two fine monuments of William and his 
Queen Matilda: believing that the King’s tomb contained 
treasure, they broke it open, and found the bones within, 
enveloped in red silk, the colour being still apparent; 
they were of an extraordinary size, and had every appear¬ 
ance of being those of a very strong man.* 


* “A Tour through Normandy and Britanny,” by Mrs. Sto- 
thard, widow of the ingenious artist whose unfortunate death 
is noticed May 29, 1821. 



SEPTEMBER. 


3/1 


9, 1513. Was fought the celebrated Battle of Floe den, 
or Flodden, a village in Northumberland; when the 
Scotch king, James IV., and most of his chief nobles, 
were slain, while the English lost only persons of small 
note. The king, it is said, was buried at Sheen, now 
Richmond, in Surrey. The Earl of Surrey commanded 
the English forces. Henry VIII. was at that time be¬ 
sieging, in person, Terouane, near St. Oiner, in Flanders. 
James had married, in 1503, Margaret, the daughter of 
Henry VII., and thus laid the foundation of the union of 
England and Scotland. After her husband’s death, she 
married Douglas, Earl of Angus, and their daughter was 
the mother of Darnlev, son of the Earl of Lennox. 

— 1801. Expired, at Hackney, that elegant writer, acute 
critic, profound scholar, and excellent man, Gilbert 
Wakefield : he was buried at Richmond, in Surrey. 

Here, may we say, a high, undaunted soul, 

That spurned at palsied caution’s chill controul, 

A mind by learning stored, by genius fired, 

In freedom’s cause with generous zeal inspired, 
Slumbers in dust: the fabric of his fame 
Rests on the pillar of a spotless name ! 

Miss Aikin’s Miscellaneous Poems, p. 125. 

• See February 22, 1756. 

10, 1547. Battle of Pinkey. On this day was fought 
the memorable battle of Pinkey, or Musselburgh, near 
Edinburgh, between the English and the Scots, when the 
latter were totally defeated. Few victories have been 
more decisive, or gained with smaller loss to the con¬ 
querors. There fell not 200 of the English ; but accord¬ 
ing to the most moderate computation, 10,000 of the 
Scots perished. Above 1500 were taken prisoners. This 
action was called the battle of Pinkey, from a nobleman’s 
seat of that name in the neighbourhood. 

— 1797. Died Mary Wollstoncraft Godwin, a lady 
of very superior literary accomplishments ; but there were 
certain peculiarities of system, both in her writings and 
in her conduct, against which every lover of religion or 
morals must protest. She was born in 1768, at Beverley, 
in Yorkshire, and was buried in St. Pancras church-yard, 
near London. 

— 1802. Lunar Iris, or Rainbow by Moonlight. 
The Iris Lunaris is so seldom seen, that Dr. Plot, in his 


3/2 


SEPTEMBER. 


History of Oxfordshire,* asserts that he knew several 
learned men and eminent observers who never saw one in 
their lives, and that Aristotle saw only two in the course 
of fifty years. Later times have been more fortunate. 
A very beautiful Lunar Rainbow was observed this even¬ 
ing (Sept. 10) at Matlock, in Derbyshire, between the 
hours of eight and nine: its effect was singularly pleasing. 
The colours of these phenomena are sometimes very well 
defined; but they have a more tranquil tone than those 
which originate in the solar beams. They are not un¬ 
frequent in the vicinity of Matlock, being mentioned by 
some writers among the natural curiosities of that delight¬ 
ful spot. Miss Williams saw a beautiful Lunar Rainbow 
on the mountains of Glaris, in Switzerland.f And on 
Saturday evening, September 28, 1822, an extremely in¬ 
teresting Iris of this description was distinctly observed 
by many persons in the neighbourhood of Boston, in 
Lincolnshire. It made its appearance nearly north, about 
half-past eight in the evening. This bow of the heavens 
was every way complete, the curvature entire, though its 
span was extensive, and the altitude of its apex seemed 
to be about 20 degrees. The darkness occasioned by 
some clouds pregnant with rain, in the back ground of 
this white arch of beauty, formed a striking contrast, 
while several stars in the constellation of Ursa Major, 
(the Great Bear,) which were for a time conspicuous, im¬ 
parted additional grandeur to the scene. 

10, 1816. Died, at Cheltenham, in his 81st year, the truly 
venerable Richard Reynolds, of Bristol, a member of 
the Society of Friends , or Quakers, J who, full of faith, 
of days, of riches, and of honour, was gathered to his 
fathers, “ as a shock of corn fully ripe.” His genuine 
Christian benevolence was not confined to the numerous 
charitable institutions of Bristol, nor even to those of the 
United Kingdom, but was co-extensive with the habitable 
globe. His influential example has also given the tone to 
the philanthropic exertions of his fellow-citizens, who 
will long retain an emulation of his virtues. To promote 
this most desirable end, a well-supported charitable in¬ 
stitution has been formed in Bristol, to perpetuate his 


* Natural History of Oxfordshire , by Robert Plot. Printed in 
1677. 

f Tour in Switzerland. See Arith. Quest, art. Rainbow. 

X See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 3d edit. art. Friends, 



SEPTEMBER, 373 

memory, called “ The Reynolds’ Commemoration 
Society.” 

Mr. Reynolds was followed to the grave by more than 
seventy relatives; by above three hundred of the most 
respectable inhabitants of Bristol and its vicinity, of va¬ 
rious religious denominations, all in mourning; by several 
Clergymen and Dissenting Ministers of different persua¬ 
sions ; and by thousands of solemn spectators, among 
whom were many of the poor and indigent, who, with 
faces of unfeigned sorrow, bedewed with the “ tear that 
gems the grateful eye,” were eager to pay a last tribute of 
respect to their common benefactor. 

To the above imperfect account of an extraordinary 
man among the Friends, may be subjoined a few par¬ 
ticulars of a no less extraordinary female, belonging to 
the same class of practical Christians, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Fry, whom Providence seems to have raised up for the 
relief of the wretched, for the good of society, and for 
the glory of her sex. She has, for many years, been the 
zealous promoter of all the plans of education that tend 
to render our fellow-creatures useful members of society. 
She obtained the first subscription towards the support of 
Lancaster’s Borough School, and by this early effort, at 
a moment when that important undertaking was sinking 
for want of aid, did this lady’s anxiety for the instruction 
of the poor cherish an establishment, which shortly after 
was considered worthy the patronage of Royalty,* and of 
many of the most distinguished personages in the king- 


* See July 10, 1809. In consequence of the patronage which 
our late venerable Sovereign afforded to this invaluable institu¬ 
tion, it was called the Lancastericrn , or Royal British System of 
Education, but on the 21st of May, 1814, the term British and 
Foreign School Society was adopted in its stead. The late Mr. 
Joseph Fox, many years secretary to the Institution, deserves a 
high place among philanthropists: scarcely any humane project 
was set on foot which had not his generous support: and the 
members of the committee bear the most indubitable testimony 
to the ardour of his disinterested benevolence, when they declare 
that this institution must have perished if it had not been pre¬ 
served by his unwearied toils and his great pecuniary sacrifices. 
He, indeed, considered the society itself as of such inestimable 
importance to the knowledge and consequent virtue and happiness 
of mankind, that he gave himself up to its support with a degree 
of self-devotion which has seldom been equalled in the annals of 
philanthropy. He concluded his labours of love on the 11th of 
April, 1816; and we trust that he is gone to his reward ! 




3/4 


SEPTEMBER. 


dom. This angelic woman has, moreover, dived into 
the gloomy depths of a prison, encountered the damp and 
noxious vapours of a dungeon, and waved all the consi¬ 
derations of health and ease, to be an eye-witness of the 
wretchedness and misery of deluded and unhappy crea¬ 
tures of her own sex; to administer to their wants, to 
correct their vices, and to instruct them in the purifying 
and consolatory doctrines of the Christian religion. Mrs. 
Fry, a few years ago, was induced to visit the jail of 
Newgate; she found the female prisoners in a most affect¬ 
ing and disgusting situation. Our compassionate visitor 
heroically undertook the apparently hopeless task of re¬ 
ducing this chaos of idleness, disorder, misery, and vice, 
into a school of order, cleanliness, and reformation ; and 
her success has far exceeded the most sanguine expec¬ 
tations. 

Mrs. Fry has also made an excursion of humanity to 
some of the prisons in the north of England, and in Scot¬ 
land ; a spectacle which, without any overstrained hyper¬ 
bole, angels might regard with delight. What was said of 
Howard, may, indeed, be justly applied to this female 
philanthropist :* 

The spirits of the good who bend from high 
Upon this scene of earth a partial eye; 

When first array’d in Virtue’s purest robe, 

They saw “ Eliza” traversing the globe, 

Mistook a mortal for an angel guest, 

And ask’d what seraph step the earth impress’d. 

Mrs. Fry was born in the year 1780, and is the third 
daughter of the late John Gurney, Esq., of Earlham-Hall, 
in Norfolk. Her person is tall and graceful, and her 
countenance placid but intellectual; and to great gentle¬ 
ness and sweetness of manners, she unites an unusual 
firmness of mind. In the year 1800, she became the wife 
of Joseph Fry, Esq., banker, of St. Mildred’s Court, Lon¬ 
don, and is the mother of ten children. Long' may they 
arise up and call her blessed; and her husband also'praise 
her! 

11, 1297- In a battle on the banks of the river Forth, near 
Cambuskenneth, in Scotland, Crkssingham, one of the 
instruments employed by Edward I. to maintain his do¬ 
minion over the Scots, being killed by the heroic Wallace, 
his memory was so extremely odious to that brave people. 


* See January 20, 1790. and Arith, Quest. 






SEPTEMBER. 


3 75 


that they flayed his dead body, and made saddles and girts 
of his skin. See Arilh . Quest. 10th edit. art. Baldivia and 
Crassus. 

11, 1703. Alexander Selkirk sailed from Kinsale, Ire¬ 
land ; was left on the island of Juan Fernandez, in Octo¬ 
ber, by Captain Stradling, and taken from the island on 
the 1st of February, 1700, by Captain Woodes Rogers. 
See September I. 

— 1745. Died Mary Chandler, an English lady, distin¬ 
guished for her talents in poetry. Her poems inculcate 
in a pleasing manner the principles of religion and virtue; 
and for one in particular, upon the Bath, she had the 
honour of being complimented by Pope. Mrs. Chandler 
was born at Malmesbury, in Wiltshire, in 1687. 

12, 14.94. Francis I. was born at Cognac, and succeeded 
Louis XII. on the throne of France, January 1, 1515. See 
Bourn’s Gaz. art. Cognac, Pavia, and Rambouillet. 

— 1683. The siege of Vienna, in Germany, was raised by 
John Sobieski. The Turks, it is said, had lost 70,000 
men before that city.* * * § 

13, The Greeks keep the festival of Cornelius, and, in 
their menologies, treat him as a martyr. Cornelius was a 
centurionf of a cohort, belonging to the legion surnamed 
Italian. + He was a Gentile, but one that feared God ; of 
constant devotion, and much charity. His whole family 
served God ; he was miraculously favoured with an intro¬ 
duction to the knowledge of the gospel: and, finally, he 
and his family were added to the Christian church, as the 
first fruits of the Gentiles.§ Some say, that he was after¬ 
wards bishop of Caesarea, in Palestine. St. Jerome affirms, 
that the house of Cornelius was changed into a church, 
which was visited with great devotion by St. Paula,|| A. D. 
385. 


* See June 17, 1696. 

f A centurion was an officer who had the command of a hun¬ 
dred men. See September 21, 1745. 

X A Roman cohort was a company of soldiers, commanded by 
a military tribune (much the same as our colonel), consisting ge¬ 
nerally of about a thousand. It is thought probable that this was 
called the Italian cohort, because most of the soldiers belonging 
to it were Italians. It might, perhaps, be the life-guard of the 
Roman governor, who generally resided in the celebrated city of 
Caesarea. See the author’s Scripture Maps. 

§ See Acts, chap. x. 

II See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. art. Bethlehem, 



376 


SEPTEMBER. 


13, 1515 Was fought the celebrated battle of Marignan, 
near Milan, in Italy, one of the most furious and best con¬ 
tested engagements that is to be met with in the history of 
these latter ages. In this sanguinary conflict, which hap¬ 
pened between the heroic Swiss and the French under 
Francis I., upwards of 20,000 men were slain on both 
sides; and the former, after losing all their bravest troops, 
were compelled to retire. An officer who had been pre¬ 
sent at eighteen pitched battles declared, that every en¬ 
gagement which he had yet seen was only the play of chil¬ 
dren ; the action of Marignan was a combat of heroes. 

— 1598. Expired, in his palace of the Escurial, the bi¬ 
goted, morose, vindictive, and inhuman Philip II. of 
Spain, aged 71* His reign of 42 years was a continual 
scene of warfare. He carried fire and sword into the ter¬ 
ritories of his neighbours, and murdered his own subjects 
with deliberate cruelty. He died of a most painful and 
loathsome disease, and was buried in the monastery of San 
Lorenzo, which is about a mile from the village of Escu¬ 
rial. See Miseell. Quest, on English History , and Bourn’s 
Gazetteer , art. Escurial. 

— 1759. Death of Wolfe. The heroic Wolfe was 
killed, in the 33rd year of his age, at Quebec, in Canada, 
North America. This courageous young general has been 
often compared to Epaminondas: both were adorned with 
virtue; both were victorious and triumphant, though mor¬ 
tally wounded in fighting for their country; both were 
equally 

“ Brave in their life, and glorious in their fall.”* 

— 1806. Expired, at Chiswick-House, the seat of the 
Duke of Devonshire, near London, in the 58tlv year of his 
age, deeply lamented by the nation in general, the Right 
Hon. Charles James Fox, an unrivalled orator, an illus¬ 
trious statesman, an incorruptible patriot and universal 
philanthropist; the pride, the glory, and the bulwark of 
his country. See May 1, 1807. 

A patriot’s even course he steer’d, 

’Mid faction’s wildest forms unmov’d ; 

By all, who mark’d his course, rever’d, 

By all, who knew his heart, belov’d. 

Richard Fitzpatrick. 


* See Arilh. Quest, art. Battle of Mautinea, and Death of 
Wolfe. 



SEPTEMBER. 


377 


It is lamentable to remark the mortality which at this 
period spread among our leading men, viz. Marquis Corn¬ 
wallis, Oct. 5, 1805; Lord Nelson, Oct. 21 j Mr. Pitt, 
January 23, 1806; and Lord Thurlow, Sept. 12. Thus 
were we deprived, in less than one year, of five men, by 
whom the world estimated the wisdom and valour of En¬ 
gland. Thus, 

“ Our good stars, that were our former guides, 

Have empty left their orbs, and shot their fires.” 

13, 1806. The London Gazette Extraordinary announced 
the capture of Buenos Ayres by the English, on the 27th 
of June. 

Buenos Ayres (so called from its salubrity)* is the capi¬ 
tal of the vice-royalty of that name on the East coast of 
South America. It is seated on the South side of the 
estuary of the Rio de la Plata, (or the River of Silver,) 
and enjoyed a great share of commerce, on account of its 
communication with old Spain, and still more from the 
contraband trade with the Portuguese in Brazil. The 
circumjacent districts are very fertile, and especially 
abqund in horned cattle. The lat. of Buenos Ayres is 
about 35° South, and the long. 60° West. It was recap¬ 
tured by the Spaniards on the 12th of August, 1806. 

14, Holy-Cross-Day, or Day of the Exaltation of the 
Cross, a festival which was instituted about the year 615, 
from the following circumstance:—Chosroes, King of 
Persia, having plundered Jerusalem, took away a great 
piece of the cross which St. Helena had left there, f 
Heraclius, the emperor, defeated him in battle, and re¬ 
covered the cross, which he carried back in triumph to 
Jerusalem. 

— 1435. The Duke of Bedford, Regent of France, died 
at Rouen, in the department of the Lower Seine, province 
of Normandy. He was a nobleman of great abilities, and 
of many virtues, and whose memory, except from the bar¬ 
barous execution of the Maid of Orleans,} was unsullied 
by any considerable blemish. The Duke was interred in 
the Cathedral of Rouen.§ 


* Bueuos Ayres are Spanish words denoting “ good air.” 

t See August 18. + See May 30, 1431. 

§ There also was interred Henry, brother of Richard I., and 
Coeur de Lion’s heart, which was inclosed in a silver box, and 
deposited near the high altar. This magnificent Cathedral, which 



378 


SEPTEMBER. 


14, 1656. Was born at Lancliester, or Crook, in the county 
of Durham, Thomas Baker, a very ingenious and learned 
antiquary, who died at Cambridge, July 2, 1740, greatly 
esteemed and lamented. Twenty-three volumes of his 
manuscripts are deposited in the British Museum. 

*— 1812. Moscow, the ancient capital of the Russian em¬ 
pire, and the place where its sovereigns were crowned, 
was burnt by the Russians themselves, by the order of 
Rostopchin, the governor, to prevent Napoleon and his 
army wintering there. (See the 7th of Sept.) A purer 
or brighter flame was never kindled at the altar of patriot¬ 
ism by any people. The fires of Numantia and Sangun- 
tum* * “ pale their ineffectual light” before those of Mos¬ 
cow. The destruction of Moscow proved the salvation of 
Europe. Rostopchin died in 1826. 

15, 1596. Cadiz taken. Cadiz, a large, rich, and hand¬ 
some town in the province of Andalusia, Spain, was taken 
and plundered, and the ships in the harbour destroyed, by 
the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth’s celebrated favourite. 
See Feb. 25, 1601. 

— 1613. Sir Thomas Overbury was poisoned in the 
Tower, by the contrivance of the Countess of Essex, and 
Car, afterwards Earl of Somerset, the despicable minion 
of James I. The under agents in this villanous business 
were all apprehended, tried, and executed, about two 
years after the murder had been committed. (See Roy- 
ston. Bourn’s Gazetteer.') The Earl and his Countess 
(the infamous woman above-mentioned, now become his 
wife) were also both tried and condemned, but pardoned 
by the king, who moreover conferred on them a pension, 
with which they retired, and languished out old age in in¬ 
famy and obscurity. Their guilty loves were turned into 
the most deadly hatred ; and they passed many years in 
the same house, without any intercourse or correspon¬ 
dence with each other; strongly evincing the truth of our 
immortal bard’s remark, that 

There is no greater punishment of vice, 

Than that it have its will.f 


is one of the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in Europe, 
was, on the 15th of August, 1822, struck by lightning and sus¬ 
tained considerable damage. 

* See Arith. Quest. Numantia and Saguntum. 

t When wishes only weak the heart surprise, 

Heaven, in its mercy, the fond prayer denies; 



SEPTEMBER. 


3/9 


15, 1/84. The first aerial voyage in England was performed 
by Vincent Lunardi, a native of Italy. He ascended 
from the Artillery Ground, Moorfields, at two o’clock, 
and descended in a meadow near Ware, Herts, at ten 
minutes past four. 

16, 1380. Charles V. of France, surnamed the Wise, died 
at Vincennes, aged 42, after a reign of 16 years. If we 
overlook a little obliquity in the rupture of the peace of 
Bretigny, it may be deemed one of the most honourable 
in French history. He retrieved the glory, restored the 
tranquillity, and revived the spirit of his country. See 
April 8, 1364. 

— 1519. Expired, Dr. John Colet, Dean of St. Paul’s, 
born at London in 1466, and bred at Oxford. He was a 
man of exemplary life, of great learning, and a munifi¬ 
cent contributor to the advancement of knowledge, as 
was evinced by his founding and endowing St. Paul’s 
School, in 1512. 

— 1701. James II., who had been king of England, ex¬ 
pired at St. Germain’s, near Paris, in France. See Arith. 
Quest., and Miscellaneous Quest. 

— 1773* Died, at his seat near Cirencester, in the 91st 
year of his age, Earl Bathurst, a nobleman of distin¬ 
guished abilities, integrity, humanity, and generosity: and 
to these virtues were added good breeding, politeness, and 
elegance. His wit, taste, and learning, connected him 
with all persons eminent in that way, as Pope, Swift, Addi¬ 
son, &c., &c. See Cirencester, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1795. The Cape of Good Hope was taken by the 
English from the Dutch. It was confirmed to the crown 
of Great Britain at the peace of 1814. See July 9, 1497, 
and Arith. Quest, art. Constantia Wine. 

— 1823. Louis XVIII. died at the palace of the Tuille- 
ries, and was succeeded by his brother, the present king 
of France, Charles X., who was born October 9, 1757. 

17, 1556. Charles V., after spending some time in his 
native city, Ghent, in the Netherlands, went to the pro¬ 
vince of Zealand, in Holland ; where, at Flushing, taking 
an affectionate and last farewell of his son Philip and his 
attendants, he embarked on this day for Spain, at Sud- 
bourgh, or Zuitburg. See October 25, 1555, and Sept. 
21, 1558; also Bourn’s Gazetteer. 


But when our wishes are both base and weak, 
Heaven, in its justice, gives us what we seek. 

Crabbe. 





380 


SEPTEMBER. 


The following 1 interesting anecdote is related by the 
pious Saurin :* a captain, of whom historians have taken 
more care to record the wisdom than the name, requested 
the emperor to discharge him from his service. Charles 
asked the reason. The prudent soldier replied, Because 
there ought to be a pause between the hurry of life and 
the day of death. The observation struck the monarch, 
and confirmed him in the resolution of abdicating his 
crown, f 

It is asserted in the Mon. Repos. Vol. IX. p. 229, that 
this officer’s name was John Valdesso ; and that he 
was a scholar and a theologian, as well as a soldier ; 
and one of Charles’s favourite generals. See Charles V., 
Index. 

17, 1665. Philip V. of Spain died at Madrid, and was 
buried at the Escurial. He possessed good natural abili¬ 
ties, but, indulging in sensual gratifications, suffered his 
favourite, Olivarez, to conduct the affairs of government. 
He was affable, generous, and humane j he was neither 
loved nor respected by his subjects. See Butler's 
Mis. Quest. 3d edit. 

— 1802. Died, at his seat in Twickenham Meadows, 
Richard Cambridge, an elegant English poet and 
miscellaneous writer, born in London, in 1717- He 
wrote 22 papers in that well-known periodical collection 
of essays called “ The World.” A complete collection 
of his works was published in 1803, by his son. 

IS, 1180. Louis VII., King of France, died at Paris soon 
after his return from a pilgrimage he had made to the 
tomb of Thomas h Becket, at Canterbury, to implore that 
saint’s intercession for his son’s restoration to health. 

— 1/09. Dr. Samuel Johnson, the “ Great Moralist,” 
was born at Lichfield, in Staffordshire. He was the 
greatest literary character of his age. His principal 
works are the Rambler, the Idler, Lives of the English 


* Sermon vii. Vol. IV. 

t The same sentiment was expressed by Sir Walter Scott in an 
address delivered by the late John Kemble, on taking leave of the 
Edinburgh stage : 

“ Higher duties crave 

Some space between the theatre and the grave; 

That, like the Romau in the Capitol, 

I may adjust my mantle ere I fall.”J 


i Sec Butler’s Arith. Quest, No. 26 , Death of Caesar. 





SEPTEMBER. 


381 


Poets, and an English Dictionary; which last will endure 
as long as the language it illustrates. Dr. Johnson died 
at his house in Bolt-Court, Fleet Street, December 13, 
1784, and was interred in Westminster Abbey, near his 
friend Garrick. A statue, bearing an inscription by the 
learned Dr. Parr, has been erected to the memory of 
this illustrious “ Leviathan of Literature,” in St. Paul’s 
Cathedral. 

18, 1721. Expired at Wimpole, nine miles S. W. from 
Cambridge, Matthew Prior, an eminent English poet 
and statesman, born in London, or at Wimborne, in 
Dorsetshire, 1664. He was at one period secretary of 
state for Ireland ; and in the latter end of Queen Anne’s 
reign was sent minister plenipotentiary to France, to ne- 
gociate a peace with that kingdom. For this negociation 
he was afterwards impeached and imprisoned, but was 
liberated in 1717, and spent the remainder of his days in 
tranquillity and retirement. His poems are well known 
and much admired. He was buried in Westminster 
Abbey, and is said to have written the following epitaph 
on himself: 

Nobles and heralds, by your leave, 

Here lie the bones of Matthew Prior, 

The son of Adam and of Eve : 

Let Bourbon* or Nassauf go higher. 

19, 1356. Edward the Black Prince defeated the French 
at Poitiers, department of Vienne, province of Poitou, 
France. The standard of France was overthrown, many 
of her most distinguished nobility were slain, and the 
king (John) and his youngest son were made prisoners. 
The prince treated his royal captives with eminent cour¬ 
tesy. See Aritli. Quest, and May 24, 1357. 

,— 1519. Magellan sailed from St. Lucar, a sea-port of 
Andalusia, Spain. See April 26, 1521. 

20, 1400. Owen Glyndwr caused himself to be pro¬ 
claimed Prince of Wales in the first year of Henry IV. 
In order to attach his countrymen more firmly to him, he 
used the powerful engine of magic, and asserted, perhaps 
believed, that the elements of nature were under his 
absolute controul. “ At my birth,” says he, according to 
Shakspeare, 

* An ancient race of princes on the throne of France. 

f One of the family titles of the heroic ancestors of our im¬ 
mortal deliverer, William III. See July 10, 1584. 



382 


SEPTEMBER. 


The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes ; 

The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds 
Were stangely clamorous to the frighted fields. 

These signs have mark’d me extraordinary; 

And all the courses of my life do shew, 

I am not in the roll of common men. 

After harassing Henry IV.’s forces, by various tedious 
and indecisive expeditions, for a period of fourteen years, 
he was compelled to retire to the house of his daughter 
in Herefordshire, where he died. See page 361. 

20, 1643. Was fought, with desperate and steady valour 
on both sides, the battle of Newbury, in Berksliire, be¬ 
tween the army of Charles I., and that of the Parliament. 
Among the numbers slain was Lucius Carey, Viscount 
Falkland, deeply regretted by every lover of talent 
and virtue throughout the kingdom. He had a fine 
genius, a generous disposition, and an undaunted love of 
liberty. This excellent person was but thirty-four years 
of age when a period was thus put to his life. 

— 1824. At Haworth, 5 miles south of Keighley, in the 
West-Riding of York, and on the borders of Lancashire, 
about 6 o’clock in the evening, a part of the high lands 
on the Stanbury-moor opened into a chasm and sunk to 
the depth of 6 yards, in some places exhibiting a ragged 
appearance, and forming two principal cavities—the one 
was about 200 yards, and the other not less than 600 
yards in circumference. From these hollows issued two 
immense volumes of muddy water, and uniting at a dis¬ 
tance of 100 yards from their sources, constituted, for 
about two hours, an overwhelming flood from 40 to 50 
(sometimes 70) yards in width and seldom less than 4 
yards in depth. This heavy and powerful stream broke 
down one solid stone bridge, made breaches in two others, 
clogged up and stopped several mills destroyed several 
fields of corn, &c., &c., &c. 

The above is supposed to have been occasioned by 
some subterraneous commotion, the most considerable as 
to its results that has taken place in this kingdom for 
many generations. The river Aire, at Leeds, presented 
the effects of this phenomenon: the water that came 
down the river was in such a polluted state, as to have 
poisoned great quantities of fish, and from it turbid state 
the water became useless. Mon. Mag. Oct. 1824, Gent. 
Mag. Sept. p. 268. See Feb. 1/ and Nov. 13. 

21. The Latin church celebrates the feast of Saint Mat¬ 
thew. This apostle and evangelist was the son of Al- 


SEPTEMBER. 


383 


plieus, a Galilean by birth, a Jew by religion, and a 
publican by profession.* The other evangelists call 
him only Levi, which was his Hebrew name; but he 
always calls himself Matthew, which probably was his 
name as a publican. His usual abode was at Caper¬ 
naum, and his office was out of the town, at the sea of 
Tiberias, which was near. Here he was when called by 
Jesus Christ to follow him.f St. Matthew soliciting 
our Saviour to eat at his house, he came with his disci¬ 
ples ; and several publicans, with other persons of St. 
Matthew’s acquaintance, sat down to partake of the en¬ 
tertainment. + From the time of his invitation to be 
Christ’s follower and disciple, St. Matthew continued 
with his Divine Master, distinguished with the honour 
of being one of his twelve apostles, a familiar attendant 
on his person, a hearer of his discourses, a witness of 
his holy life, and an evidence of his resurrection. After 
our Saviour’s assumption^ he was with the apostles at 
Jerusalem, and on the day of Pentecost|| was endowed 
with spiritual gifts and miraculous powers. This is all 
that the Scripture acquaints us with concerning St. 
Matthew. The most general opinion of both ancients 
and moderns is, that he preached and suffered martyrdom 
in Persia, or among the Parthians, or in Caramania, 
now Kerman, which was then subject to the Parthians ; 


* Mark ii. 14; Luke v. 27. A publican among the Romans 
was one who farmed the taxes and public revenues. See Geo . 
Exer. on the New Test. 

f Matt. ix. 9 ; Mark ii. 14 ; Luke v. 27. 

X Matt. ix. 10, 11, &c. § See May 14, 33. 

|1 See Acts, chap. ii. Pentecost is a solemn festival of the 
Jews, so called because it was celebrated 50 days after the feast 
'of the Passover. Lev. xxiii. 15. It is called the feast of weeks, 
Exod. xxxiv. 22, because it was kept seven weeks after the Pass- 
over. See Geo. E ver, on the New Test. 

The Passover is a solemn festival of the Jews, instituted in 
commemoration of their coming out of Egypt; because, the night 
before their departure, the destroying angel, who put to death 
the first-born of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the He¬ 
brews without entering them ; they being marked with the blood 
of the lamb that was killed the evening before, and which for 
this reason is called the Paschal Lamb, Exod. xii. See also Matt, 
xxvi. 17, &c.; Mark xiv. 12 ; Luke xxii. 7 ; and 1 Cor. x. 16. 
The Passover was typically predictive of Christ. 1 Cor. v. 7. See 
Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 



384 


SEPTEMBER. 


though others maintain, that he preached and died in 
Ethiopia by a natural death ; and that his body was trans¬ 
lated from thence to Bithynia, in Asia, and finally to 
Salernum, in Naples, A. D. 954, where it was found in 
1080. 

21, 1327. Death of Edward II. This unfortunate mo¬ 
narch, who was born at Caernarvon,* * * § in Wales, in 1284, 
was, after having been confined in Monmouth and Kenil¬ 
worth Castles, cruelly murdered in Berkeley Castle, 
Gloucestershire, at the instigation of his adulterous Queen 
Isabella, whom Gray, in his “ Bard,” so strongly stig¬ 
matizes : 

She-wolf of France,+ with unrelenting fangs, 

That tear’st the bowels of thy mangled mate.}: 

None of the adjacent monasteries would receive the 
royal corpse, excepting Gloucester, where it was interred. 
Edward III., his son and successor, determined to do 
honour to this inglorious prince, by erecting" a tomb to 
his memory in the cathedral. It now stands near the 
high altar, and is said to be the most ancient piece of 
.sculpture in England which exhibits such perfection of 
art. The artist is unknown, but is supposed by Rys- 
braeck§ (who visited this monument with professional 
veneration) to have been an Italian. 

— 1558. Expired the celebrated Charles V. See Ja¬ 
nuary 16, and September 17, 1556. He had chosen for 
his retreat the monastery of St. Juste, a few leagues from 
Placentia, in Estramadura, Spain, which was situated in a 
happy plimate, and amid the greatest beauties of nature.* 
Here he buried in solitude and silence his grandeur and his 


* See Arith. Quest, art. Birth of the first Pi;ince of Wales. 

f Isabella was the daughter of Philip IV. of France. She was 
married to Edward in 1307. 

X See Jan. 20, 1327. 

§ This excellent sculptor died in 1770, aged 70. His contem¬ 
porary, the famous Roubilliac, whose chief works are in West¬ 
minster Abbey, died in 1762, aged 59. He was born at Berne, 
in Switzerland, or, as some say, at Lyons, in France. Lord 
Chesterfield once observed, that “ Roubilliac only was a statu¬ 
ary, and all the rest were stone-cutters.” The statute of Sir 
Isaac Newton at Trinity College, Cambridge, is said by some 
to be the chef-d’oeuvre of this artist; others give the preference 
to that of Bishop Hough in the cathedral at Worcester. See 
May 8, 1743. 



SEPTEMBER. 


385 


ambition, together with all those vast projects which, 
(luring half a century, had alarmed and agitated Europe, 
filling every kingdom in it, successively, with the terror 
of his arms, and the dread of being subjected to his 
power. Far from taking any part in the political trans¬ 
actions of the princes of Europe, he restrained his cu¬ 
riosity even from any inquiry concerning them; and he 
seemed to view the busy scene which he had abandoned, 
with all the contempt and indifference arising from his 
thorough experience of its vanity, as well as from the 
pleasing reflection of having disengaged himself from its 
cares. Here, possessing 

“ An elegant sufficiency, 

Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books,” 

he enjoyed more complete satisfaction than all his former 
greatness had ever yielded him. 

21, 1745. Death of Colonel Gardiner. This sin¬ 
gularly eminent character was born at Carriden, in Lin¬ 
lithgowshire, Scotland, on the 18th of January, 1688 ; 
the memorable year of that Glorious Revolution 
which he always esteemed among the most happy events. 
After a few years’ successful application to learning at 
the school of Linlithgow, he embraced the military pro¬ 
fession, and was present in almost every engagement 
fought by the Duke of Marlborough. 

On the conclusion of the war, the Colonel resumed the 
pursuits of fashionable and splendid life, which in the 
mean time were often embittered, even at seasons of the 
most refined enjoyment, by reflections on human mor¬ 
tality, and by the various other still more awful consider¬ 
ations which had been so forcibly and feelingly impressed 
on his mind in early life by a mother’s exemplary care, 
and the good instructions and exhortations of a pious 
aunt.* Becoming a sincere convert to Christianity, he 
conformed to all the obligations of the Christian pro¬ 
fession; and a total change in the distribution of his 
time resulted of course. He rose every morning at four, 
and devoted two hours to secret exercises of devotion, 
meditation and prayer, in which last he attained an un¬ 
common fervency of spirit. 


* The Colonel, says Dr. Doddridge, used to make this obser¬ 
vation, as an encouragement to parents, and other pious friends, 
to do their duty, and hope for those good consequences of it 
which may not immediately appear. 

s 



386 


SEPTEMBER. 


His mother died in 1725, after having 1 long received 
from him a liberal maintenance, out of that moderate 
income on which he subsisted since his regiment had 
been disbanded.* In 1726, he married a daughter of the 
Earl of Buchan, by whom he had thirteen children, though 
only five survived him. After his union with this lady, 
who concurred in all his views, the Scriptures were re¬ 
gularly read to his entire house; and prayers and praises 
•were constantly offered there.f When promoted to high 
military command, he led his troops every Sunday from 
the parade to a Dissenting place of worship, without en¬ 
forcing the presence of the subalterns and privates, not of 
the same persuasion. 

Though his fortune was never affluent, the retrench - 
ment of superfluities enabled Colonel Gardiner to gratify 
his inclination for eleemosynary donations. A short 
time previous to the last insurrection in Scotland, Gar¬ 
diner received a Colonel's commission over a regiment 
of dragoons. Early on the 21st of September, 1745, 
the day on which the battle of Preston-PansJ was 
fought, he dismissed from his camp three of his four 
domestics, with much Christian counsel and many marks 
of affection. Though twice wounded on the first onset 
of the rebels, he did not in the least relax from exhort¬ 
ing and animating others, much less from those exertions 
of personal intrepidity which were so long habitual to 
him. His new regiment, which, either from connate 
turpitude, or owing to the short time they had enjoyed 
the honour of being under his command, had yet imbibed 
none of his gallant spirit, soon deserted him. In spite, 
however, of their defection, and his own wounds, he con¬ 
tinued in the field determined against flight. Perceiving 
a regiment of foot destitute of a commanding officer, he 


* See Pope, Bacon, Biddle, Beddoes, Swift, and Warburton, 
Index. 

f The amiable Cornelius, though exposed to all the tempta¬ 
tions of a military life, maintained not only his virtue, hut his 
piety too ; and, like Joshua, (another soldier,) was an example 
of domestic as well as personal religion. See Acts, chap. x. vers. 
2, 7, 22, 30 ; and Joshua xxiv. 15. See also Sept. 13, Aug. 4, 
1804 ; and Oct. 16, 1586. 

t Preston-Pans is situated at the north-west angle of the 
county of Haddington, Scotland. It is noted for salt works. 
See Scotland Delineated. 





SEPTEMBER. 


387 


advanced to supply the deficiency: while encouraging 
this adopted regiment to continue their attack upon the 
enemy, he received a deep wound from a Highlander’s 
scythe; and, dismounted by this savage instrument, aided 
by the force of other assailants, a blow on the head from 
a broad sword or Lochaber axe* * * § put a period to his va¬ 
lour and his life, and deprived the world of one of its 
most honourable members. See Dr. Doddridge’s Life 
of Colonel Gardiner. 

22, 479, B. C. Was fought the memorable battle of My- 
cale, between the Greeks and Persians; being the 
identical day on which Mardonius was defeated and slain, 
at Platea.f The Persians consisted of 100,000 men who 
had just returned from an unsuccessful expedition of 
Xerxes’ in Greece.]; They were completely defeated, 
some thousands of them slaughtered, their camp was 
burnt, and the Greeks triumphantly embarked their 
troops and sailed back to Samos with an immense booty. 
Mycale is a promontory of Asia, opposite to the Island of 
Samos, in the Archipelago. 

— 1604. Ostend, a sea-port in Flanders, surrendered to 
the Spanish arms, after one of the most memorable sieges 
that modern history has recorded. The Spaniards are 
said to have lost nearly 80,000 men in the course of the 
siege, which lasted upwards of three years; and not less 
than 50,000 English and Dutch are supposed to have 
perished in the town during that period. 

— 1662. Expired, in London, in consequence of impri¬ 
sonment on account of religious tenets, the Rev. John 
Biddle, born at Wotton-under-Edge, in Gloucestershire, 
in 1615, and usually styled the “Father of the English 
Unitarians.”§ He is memorable in consequence of the 
severe persecutions || that he sustained, and for the almost 


* The ancient arms of the Scotch Highlanders were a broad 
sword and target, Lochaber axes , (now only used by the town 
guard of Edinburgh,) a dirk, (short dagger,) and a pistol stuck in 
the girdle. 

f See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. Nov. 12, 1715 ; Oct. 21, 1805; 
Oct. 20,480 B. C., and Bourn’s Gazetteer . 

+ See Arith. Quest, art. Xerxes. 

§ See Exer. on the New Test. art. Unitarians. 

j| This pious and learned man was banished on account of his 
religious principles, to one of the Scilly Isles, off the coast of 
Cornwall. The inconveniences and wants of his forlorn situa- 



388 


SEPTEMBER. 


unexampled resignation which he exemplified under 
them ; clearly evincing that true piety is not peculiar to 
those who embrace a particular creed, but the genuine 
fruit of principles which are common to all Christians. 
He was a man of an irreproachable life; of great modesty, 
temperance, charity, forbearance, and probity; and in 
early years an amiable example of filial affection to his 
mother, to whom, on her becoming a widow by the death 
of his father, he with great diligence gave dutiful assist¬ 
ance. He had early learned to be content with a little, 
and through life sought not more. 

Rich in content, in Nature’s bounty rich. 

Nay, out of that little he would ever contribute some¬ 
thing to the necessities of others. His acquaintance 
with the Sacred Writings was singularly comprehensive 
and exact, especially the New Testament; with which he 
was so conversant, that he retained it all in his memory 
verbatim, not only in English but in Greek, as far as the 
4th chapter of Revelation.* He was a strict observer 


tion were, however, in some measure relieved by the kindness 
of the Protector Cromwell himself, who, after some time, al¬ 
lowed him in his exile 100 crowns per annum for his subsistence; 
which, as an act of pure geuerosity, shewn to a persecuted man 
whose religious tenets could not be agreeable to Cromwell, re¬ 
flects great honour on his name. Mr. Biddle’s exile lasted three 
years. 

* Pious persons have, in all ages, been eminent in veneration 
for the Holy Scriptures. Josephus attests the zeal with which 
his countrymen initiated their children at the tenderest age in this 
divine study ; a testimony strongly confirmed by the apostle Paul, 
where he commends Timothy, who had been educated a Jew, for 
having improved the acquaintance which his infancy had contracted 
with the inspired writers. Tertullian is said to have devoted his 
days and nights to meditation on them. Theodosius the Younger, 
emperor of the East, was able to repeat entire books of sacred 
writ verbatim. Origen’s repose was always preceded, as his re¬ 
past had been accompanied, by the same sacred lecture. Eusebius 
declares his having been present when a confessor, whose eyes 
had been cauterized in Diocletian’s persecution,* recited several 
parts of the Bible with the accuracy of a reader. Ancient church 
history records various instances of similar diligence; and in more 
modern times, we read that Zuinglius transcribed all St. Paul's 
epistles, and committed them to memory. Beza tenaciously re¬ 
tained at 80 the familiarity which his youth had contracted with 


* See May 1, 304. 






SEPTEMBER. 


389 


himself, and a rigid exacter in others, of reverence in 
speaking of God and Christ, and holy things; so that 
he would by no means hear with indifference their names, 
or any sentence of the Bible, used vainly or lightly : and, 
though cheerful and pleasant in common conversation, 
he appeared even then to retain an awe of the Divine 
presence.* 

22, 1761. George III. and his Queen were crowned in 
the Abbey Church of Westminster. 

— 1791. The Earl of Buchan delivered an eulogy in 
honour of Thomson, on Ednam Hill, when he crowned 
the first edition of the Seasons with a wreath of bays.f 
See Aug. 27, 1748. 

23, 1830. Began the Autumnal Quarter, the sun having 
entered the constellation Libras, the Balance,}; at l h 


them in Greek. Cranmer and Ridley, those renowned martyrs, 
learned the whole of the New Testament by heart; the former 
in his journey to Rome, the latter in the walks of Pembroke Hall, 
Cambridge. The late Dr. Knox, in his admirable Treatise on 
Education, attributes a part of the prevalence of irreligion in the 
present day, to the growing neglect of the long-established method 
of teaching children to read by the Testament. No book, con¬ 
tinues that elegant writer, is so well adapted to this purpose. The 
language is remarkably easy and familiar, and the matter enter¬ 
taining to young minds. The early use of it may impress on the 
memory many scriptural passages, which would never be properly 
attended to at another age. This last remark merits the serious 
consideration of those who are concerned in the important charge 
of directing the studies of youth. 

* It is said of the amiable, pious, charitable, and profoundly 
learned Lelghton, archbishop of Glasgow, that those who knew 
him most and longest declared, that in the course of many years’ 
acquaintance, they scarcely ever saw him out of that deeply se¬ 
rious frame, in which they themselves wished to be found in their 
last minutes. He w 7 as born in London, and died at the Bell inn, 
Warwick Lane, in 1648. His works are greatly esteemed. 

•f See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Laurel, and u Burn’s Address 
to the Shade of Thomson on crowning his Bust with Bays.” 
Currie’s Life of Burns, Vol. II. p. 211, edit. 1798. 

X See Exer. on the Globes, art. Libra. Autumn is the season 
of the year between summer and winter, beginning astrono¬ 
mically at the equinox, and ending at the solstice; popularly, 
autumn comprises August, September, and October. 

Autumn, nodding o’er Hie yellow plain, 

Comes jovial on. 


Thomson. 





390 


SEPTEMBER. 


50 m in the afternoon. This period is generally called the 
Autumnal Equinox. The sun is then in such a posi¬ 
tion, that in the course of 24 hours every part ot the 
earth is visited by its rays, and every where except within 
the polar circles the day and night are equal, each con¬ 
sisting of twelve hours. The north polar circle is now 
losing sight of the sun ; the southern polar circle is 
emerging into light. See March 20, and June 21. 

23, 1738. Expired, Herman Boerhaave, one of the 
most celebrated physicians that this, or perhaps any, age 
has ever produced. He was born December 31, 1068, 
at Voorhout, a village near Leyden, and therefore was 
called the Batavian Hippocrates. Known over all Europe, 
he received visits from three sovereigns,—the Grand Duke 
of Tuscany, William III., and Peter the Great; the last of 
whom slept in his barge all night before the house of the 
physician, that he might enjoy two hours’ conversation 
with him early in the morning. His knowledge was pro¬ 
digiously great, and his character as near to perfection, 
perhaps, as human nature can approach. He was an 
admirable example of temperance, fortitude, humility, 
and devotion. His piety was the basis of all his virtues, 
and the principle of his whole conduct. As soon as he 
arose in the morning, it was his daily practice to retire 
for an hour to private prayer, meditation, and reading the 
Bible:* this, he often told his friends, gave him spirit 
and vigour in the business of the day, and this he there¬ 
fore commended as the best rule of life; for nothing, he 
said, could support the soul, in all distresses, but a con¬ 
fidence in a Supreme Being, nor can a steady and 
rational magnanimity flow from any other source than a 
consciousness of the Divine Favour. See Sept. 21, 
1745 ; and Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Boerhaave. 

— 1828. Died in London, Richard Parker Bonning- 
ton, at the premature age of 27. He was the son of a 
drawing master of Arnold, a village near Nottingham. 
At the age of three years he discovered a strong attach¬ 
ment to the fine arts, which was principally evinced by 
his sketching every object that presented itself to his 
observation. At fifteen years of age he visited Paris, and 
subsequently made a tour in Italy, from which country 


* Judge Hale observed, that if he did not honour God’s word 
by reading a portion of it every morning, things went not well 
with him all the day. See Dec. 25, 1676. 



SEPTEMBER. 


391 


he returned with splendid specimens of his abilities. His 
Ducal Palace, exhibited at the British Gallery, in the 
year of his death, was greatly admired. * His remains 
were deposited in the vault of St. James’s, PentonviUe. 

23, 1829. Died at Petersham, aged 78, Peter Hunt, 
Esq., who bequeathed 200,000/. to Guy’s Hospital. For 
this he binds the governors to build and fit up accommo¬ 
dations for 100 more patients than the original founder 
provided for. He was buried on the 2d of October in the 
same vault in which Mr. Guy, the founder of this bene¬ 
volent institution, was interred. See Dec. 27, 1724. 

24, 1080. Died, Samuel Butler, the celebrated author 
of Hudibras, a poem which, as an example of satire and 
burlesque, is unrivalled. “ If,” says an eminent critic, 
“ inexhaustible wit could give perpetual pleasure, no 
eye would ever leave half read this work of Butler. It 
is one of those compositions of which a nation may justly 
boast.” The design of the poem is to ridicule the party 
which overthrew the church and monarchy in Charles 
I.’s reign, and which was composed of Presbyterians and 
Independents. In the vicissitudes of his early years, 
Butler placed himself in the family of one of Cromwell’s 
officers, and here he observed enough of the sectaries to 
enable him to plan the groundwork of his poem. The 
first part of it was published in 1663. It was universally 
admired: “ the king quoted, the courtiers studied, and 
all the royalists applauded it.” Here, however, the poet’s 
meed terminated; and he was a strong instance of the 
ingratitude of kings and of great little men. 

His merry king could all his wit repeat; 

But in his mirth forgot that hards must eat. 

Gratitude is, indeed, a plant which rarely thrives in the 
breast of the sensualist; who cannot spare from selfish 
indulgence the mite which would comfort indigent merit. 
It was the maxim of the profligate Charles II. and his 
dissolute companions, “ Court your enemies, you are 
sure of your friends.” The illustrious poet, who by his 
wit and learning proved himself the friend of royalty, 
suffered neglect, disappointment, and poverty—he asked 
for bread, and they gave him a stone. 


* The exquisite representations of palaces, bridges, &c. &c., 
in Italy, vvitlx which the public have been gratified for several 
years, by Samuel Prout, Esq., place this indefatigable and 
skilful artist in this line of painting above all his contemporaries. 



392 


SEPTEMBER. 


Happy the deathless song; the bard, alas I mi bless'db 

Butler was born in 1612, at Strenshara, near Pershore, 
in Worcestershire, his father being a respectable farmer. 
He was buried at Covent Garden church, at the expense 
of his friend Mr. Longueville, who had in vain solicited a 
subscription to inter him in Westminster Abbey. Many 
years after his death a memorial was erected to him by 
Alderman Barber, a printer, on which are these lines : 

-Let all be taught from Butler’s fate. 

Who hope to make their fortune by the Great, 

That wit and pride are always dang’rous things, 

And little faith is due to courts and kings. 

25. The Latins honour Cleopas ; but the Greeks on the 
13th or 30th of October. Cleopas, according to the 
ancient fathers who speak of him, was brother to Joseph, 
and uncle to our Lord, in consequence of his marrying 
Mary, sister to the Virgin. He was father of Simon, 
bishop of Jerusalem, of James the Less,* of Jude, and 
Joseph or Joses. Having beheld our Saviour expire on 
the eross,f he lost all hope of seeing his kingdom esta¬ 
blished, and departed from Jerusalem the third day of 
the crucifixion, i. e. on the day of the resurrection. Going 
to the adjacent village of Eminaus, with another disciple, 
and conversing on what had lately happened, our Saviour 
joined them as a traveller, and accepted of their invitation 
to supper. + Some say that Cleopas suffered martyrdom, 
and was buried in the same house where he entertained 
Christ, and that it was his usual abode; but others think 
it more probable that he was a Galilean, and dwelt in some 
city of Galilee. 

— Holy-Rood-Day, sometimes styled the festival of the 
Exaltation of the Cross. The holy rood was an image of 
Christ on the cross, placed upon a loft made for that 
purpose, just over the passage out of the church into the 
chancel; or sometimes over the entrance into the church 
itself. This rood was not reckoned complete without the 
images of the Virgin Mary and St. John. At Boxley 
Abbey, in Kent, there was a miraculous crucifix,§ called 
the Rood of Grace , which was one of the most famous 
impostures, among the numerous frauds and juggling 
tricks employed by the Roman priests, to pick the pockets 


* See May 1. f John xix. 25 ; Luke xxiv. 13. 

X See Luke xxiv. 18. § See Exer. on the Globes , art. Crux. 




SEPTEMBER. 


395 


of the superstitious multitude.* By the help of secret 
springs it would roll the eyes, move the lips, and turn 
the head, at the approach of its credulous and deluded 
votaries. At the dissolution of the monasteries,f it was 
publicly exposed to the derision of the populace, and 
then broken to pieces at St. Paul’s Cross}; by Hilsey, 
Bishop of Rochester. 

25, 1493. Columbus sailed from Cadiz, a noted seaport 
in Andalusia, Spain, on his second voyage to the West 
Indies. 

— 1506. Philip I., king of Spain, surnamed the hand¬ 
some, died at Burgos. He was the son of Maximilian, 
emperor of Germany, and having married Joanna, daugh¬ 
ter of Ferdinand and Isabella, succeeded to the throne of 
Castile on the death of his mother-in-law. He was a bad 
prince and a faithless husband. His death was occasioned 
bv imprudently drinking, when very hot, a quantity of 
sherbet that had been cooled with ice. He expired after 
an illness of six days, in the 28th year of his age. 

— 1534. Pope Clement VII. died at Rome. He joined 
the kings of England and France against the emperor 
Charles the Vth, which confederacy vvas called the Holy 
League, from his Holiness being at the head of it. His 
capital was besieged by the emperor’s army in 1527, and 
he was obliged : to submit to conditions imposed upon 
him by the conqueror. This pope refused to sanction 
Henry VIII.’s divorce, and excommunicated the con¬ 
tumacious monarch, who disregarded his threats. Cle¬ 
ment was naturally diffident and irresolute, avaricious and 
perfidious. 

— 1764. Died, at the house of his friend Mr. Spence, at 
Durham, Robert Dodsley, an eminent bookseller and 
ingenious writer, born at Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, 
in the year 1703. He was not indebted to education 
for his literary fame, being originally a livery-servant; 


* See an extensive catalogue of these mummeries in Hume’s 
Hist, of Eng. 

f See Jan. 13, 1790, and April 1, 1771. 

X Before the ancient Cathedral of St. Paul’s, was placed the 
famous Paul’s Cross. This was a pulpit formed of wood 
mounted on stone steps, and covered with lead, in which the 
most eminent divines were appointed to preach every Sunday 
morning. It was demolished in 1643, by order of the parliament. 
See Pennant’s London . 

s 3 



394 


SEPTEMBER* 


but natural genius, and an early fondness for reading, 
soon elevated him to a superior station. An elegant little 
satirical farce, called “The Toy-Shop,” which was acted 
with applause in 1/35, recommended him to the patron¬ 
age and friendship of Mr. Pope. The following year he 
produced another farce, called “ The King and the Miller 
of Mansfield.” With the profits of these two pieces he 
was enabled to commence bookseller, and by his industry 
and integrity he rose to great eminence in the trade. He 
wrote “ Cleone,” a tragedy, and other dramatic pieces, 
a poem on agriculture, and collected some valuable fugi¬ 
tive poems and scarce specimens of the early drama. 

26. Cyprianus, a principal father of the Christian church, 
was born at Carthage, in Africa, at the latter end of the 
second or beginning of the third century. We know 
nothing more of his parents than that they were Heathens; 
and he himself continued such till the last twelve years of 
his life. He applied himself early to the study of oratory, 
and taught rhetoric in his native city with the highest 
applause. His conversion is fixed to the year 246; and it 
happened at Carthage, where, as St. Jerome observes, he 
had often employed his eloquence in defence of Paganism. 
He was made Presbyter in 247, and Bishop of Carthage 
in 248, and terminated his excellent life in 258, by mar¬ 
tyrdom, in the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus. 
There is a fine edition of his works in English, with notes 
by Nathaniel Marshall. 

—- 1777- Sir William Howe made his triumphal entry 
into Philadelphia, the capital of Pennsylvania, North 
America. See Oct. 14, 1644. 

— 1822. Expired, at Ramsgate, the Rev. John Owen, to 
whom the world is indebted for a luminous and authen¬ 
tic History of the Origin of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society. His sound judgment in counsel, his prompti¬ 
tude and energy in action, his manly and splendid elo¬ 
quence, his happy faculty of attaching friends and conci¬ 
liating opponents, his personal piety and his ministerial 
usefulness, will be long remembered in connexion with 
the labours of the mighty institution to which they were 
chiefly devoted, and to whose astonishing success they 
powerfully contributed. Mr. Owen was more than seven¬ 
teen years curate and lecturer of Fulham, by the express 
and unsolicited recommendation of the venerable Bishop 
Porteus. A list of his works is given in the Gent. Mag. 
1822. 

27, 1087. William II. was crowned at Westminster. He 


SEPTEMBER. 395 

was again crowned in 1088, at Lincoln. William was of 
the Norman line, and succeeded his father William I. 

27. The Greek and Latin churches keep the festival of St. 
John Mark, who was cousin to St. Barnabas,* and his 
disciple. His mother was a Christian woman named 
Mary, who had a house in Jerusalem, where the faithful 
and apostles generally met.f Here they were at prayers 
in the night, when St. Peter, who was delivered out of 
prison by an angel, knocked at the door.} John Mark, 
whom some very improperly confound with the evange¬ 
list St. Mark,§ adhered to Paul and Barnabas, and fol¬ 
lowed them to Antioch;|| he continued in their company 
and service till they came to Perga, in Pamphylia. But 
then seeing that they were undertaking a long journey, 
he left them, and returned to Jerusalem. This happened 
A. D. 45. Some years after, in A. D. 51, Paul and Bar¬ 
nabas preparing to return to Asia to visit the churches 
which they had founded there, these two apostles sepa¬ 
rated. Paul went to Asia, and Barnabas, with John Mark, 
to the isle of Cyprus. We find him at Rome A. D. 63, 
performing signal services for Paul during his imprison¬ 
ment. The apostle speaks advantageously of him in his 
Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon. The last of 
these was written A. D. 62, at which time John Mark was 
with Paul at Rome. But A. D. 65, he was with Timothy in 
Asia ,* and Paul, writing to Timothy, desires him to bring 
him to Rome; adding, that he was useful to him for the 
ministry of the gospel. It is thought probable, that he 
died at Ephesus, where his tomb was very much cele¬ 
brated ; but the year of his death is unknown. He is 
sometimes called simply John or Mark. Some say that 
he was bishop of Byblos, or Byblus, a famous city of 
Phoenicia, north of Sidon, at the foot of Libanus, upon 
the Mediterranean. See St. John’s Day, June 24, and 
John, the son of Zebedee, Dec. 27. 


* See June 11. 

f It is supposed, that in this very house our Saviour celebrated 
his last passover with his disciples, condescended to wash their 
feet, to teach them humility and kindness to each other, insti¬ 
tuted the commemorative memorial called the Eucharist, Sacra¬ 
ment, or Lord’s Supper, and preached his valedictory sermon. 

J See Acts xii. 12, &c. § See April 24, 68. 

|| See Antioch, Perga, and Pamphylia, in the author’s Scripture 
Maps. 





396 


SEPTEMBER. 


27, 1601. Louis XIII. was born at Fontainbleau. From 
bis infancy he was surnamed the Just, because he was 
born under Libra, or the sign of the Balance. Voltaire. 
See May 14, 1643. 

— 1730. Died at his rectory at Coningsby, in Lincoln¬ 
shire, Laurence Eusden, a native of Spofforth, four 
miles from Knaresborough, in the W. R. of Yorkshire. 
He was the author of many poetical pieces, wrote some 
of the papers in the Spectator, and in 1718, was preferred 
to thelaureateship.* 

— 1772. Died, at Turnhurst, in Staffordshire, James 
Brindley, an ingenious mechanic and conductor of in¬ 
land navigation, born at Tunsted, in Derbyshire, in 1716. 
He was a man of no education, but of unbounded genius, 
to which rivers and mountains themselves became subser¬ 
vient.' The Duke of Bridgewater’s Canal in Lancashire, 
the Grand Trunk Navigation in Staffordshire, &c., are 
lasting monuments of Mr. Brindley’s fame.'f It is re¬ 
corded of him, that when any extraordinary difficulty oc¬ 
curred to him in the execution of his works, he generally 
retired to bed, and has been known to lie there one, two, 
or three days, till he surmounted it. He would then get 
up and execute his design without any drawing or model, 
for he had a prodigious memory, which served him on all 
occasions. 

28, 400 B. C. Was fought the celebrated battle of Mara¬ 
thon, a village near Athens. See Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit. 

— 1763. Died at Manchester, in the 72nd year of his age, 
John Byrom, author of that admirable ballad in the 8th 
vol. of the Spectator, (No. 603,)—“ My time, O ye Mu¬ 
ses, was happily spent,”} written when he was at Trinity 
College, Cambridge, in compliment to Joanna, daughter 
of the great Dr. Bentley, then master of that society. 
This lady afterwards married Dr. Denison Cumberland, 
Bishop of Kilmore, in the county of Cavan, Ireland, and 
was mother of the late Mr. Cumberland, the poet and 
dramatist, who died in 1811, and was buried in Westmin¬ 
ster Abbey. 


* See April 17, 1668, and Feb. 23, 1800 ; Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit. art. Poet-Laureate. 

t See Canals, Index. 

t It was remarkable in Byrom, that he had so accustomed 
himself to the language of poetry, that he always found it the 
easiest way of expressing his sentiments upon every occasion. 




SEPTEMBER. 


397 


Bvrom supported himself for several years, in Man¬ 
chester and London, by teaching his new method of writ¬ 
ing short-hand, till a family estate devolved to him by the 
death of an elder brother. He was born at Kersal, near 
Manchester; and a collection of his poems was published 
in 1773, in 2 vols. 8vo. 

28, 1789. Expired, in the 41st year of his age, in conse¬ 
quence of a fall from his horse,* which, with his charac¬ 
teristic humanity, he was endeavouring to train by gentle 
means, the .enlightened, patriotic, and universally benevo¬ 
lent Thomas Day. 

If pensive genius ever pour’d the tear 
Of votive anguish o’er the poet’s bier; 

If drooping Britain ever knew to mourn 
In silent sorrow o’er the patriot’s urn; 

Here let them weep their Day’s untimely doom 
And hang their fairest garlands o’er his tomb ; 

For never poet’s hand did yet consign 
So pure a wreath to Virtue’s holy shrine ; 

For never patriot tried before to raise 
His country’s welfare on so firm a base; 

Glory’s bright form he taught her youth to see, 

And bade them merit freedom to be free. 

No sculptur’d marble need his worth proclaim. 

No herald’s sounding style record his name; 

For long as sense and virtue fame can give, 

In his own works his deathless name shall live. 

Thomas Warton. 

He was buried at Wargrave, near Henley, Oxfordshire. 

The political writings of Mr. Day were distinguished 
by nervous eloquence and pure patriotism ; but his fame 
will rest more durably upon works of greater usefulness. 
His Sandford and Merton,” written with the design of 
forming the minds of youth to active and manly virtue, 
and even the story of “ Little Jack,” will long be popu¬ 
lar. “ Wherever,” says an able female writer, “ children 
are to be found, these will continue interesting and useful 
from generation to generation. For the same reason. 


* See January 9, 1766. Polybius aud Cawthorn also died by 
similar accidents. Polybius was a famous Greek historian, born 
at Megalopolis, in Arcadia, in the Pelopounesus, and died at his 
native place, in the 82nd year of his age, about 124 years-B. C. 
See Leontari, Bourn’s Gazetteer. James Cawthorn was a very 
agreeable poet, a native of Sheffield, and for many years master 
of Tunbridge-School. He was killed in 1761, and his poetical 
compositions were collected and published in 1771. 



398 


SEPTEMBER. 


because true to nature and to general feeling, his poem of 
the ‘ Dying Negro’ will last as long as manly and benevo¬ 
lent hearts exist in England.”—One who enjoyed with 
Mr. Day a long and unbroken friendship, (the late Rich¬ 
ard Lovell Edgeworth,) pronounces him to have been the 
most virtuous human being he had ever known, and de¬ 
clares that he never knew him to swerve from the strictest 
morality in word or deed. It is pleasing thus to connect 
the names of two individuals, both of whom were emi¬ 
nent for benevolence and patriotism, and who both held 
the lamp of knowledge to guide the footsteps of youth. 
The names of Day and Edgeworth will descend to future 
ages among those of the wisest and most useful benefactors 
of mankind. Mr. Edgeworth was a philosopher, and a 
man of science; he was a patriot in the genuine sense of 
the word; for by his kindness, united with firmness and 
prudence, he raised the ignorant and miserable tenants on 
his estate in Ireland to the elevations of knowledge and 
happiness. As a magistrate and senator he was upright 
and enlightened. But it is as a writer on education that 
he has the greatest claim to the gratitude and affection of 
posterity. Upon his “ Practical and Professional Edu¬ 
cation,” the opinion of the present age has already fixed 
the seal of approbation Time will ratify the decision. 
To his instruction and conversation in the characters of 
preceptor and parent is the world moreover indebted for 
that admirable daughter whose works have created a new 
aera in the annals of education, and who, as an author, 
has done more to render the rising age wise and good, 
than any other writer of the present time. 

Mr. Edgeworth was born at Bath in 1744, and died 
June 13, 1817, at Edgeworth Town, in Longford, Ire¬ 
land. 

28, 1803. Died, in a very advanced age, at his house at 
Turnham Green, Middlesex, Ralph Griffiths, LL.D., 
proprietor and conductor of the Monthly Review, of which 
lie was himself the institutor in the year 1749. He was 
originally a bookseller; but, on account of the extensive 
sale of the Review, was induced to relinquish his business 
and devote himself wholly to the superintendence of that 
work, which has, in its progress, been materially instru¬ 
mental in promoting the interest of science, and diffusing 
a taste for critical literature in this country. It is, indeed, 
scarcely possible to conceive an institution more useful to 
the community than a literary journal, ably and impar¬ 
tially conducted. See May 30, 1665. A New Series, iin- 


-SEPTEMBER. 399 

proved, of this valuable work commenced on the 1st of 
January, 1826. 

29. Michaelmas-Day ;* or The Feast of SH. Michael and 
all Angels . The subject of angels is in itself very obscure, 
as this rank of beings is wholly above human inspection; 
and all that can be known of them is from incidental hints 
which are scattered in different parts of the Bible. In the 
new edition of Calmet’s Diet, there is, perhaps, all that 
can be collected on the subject. St. Paul says, they are 
all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to the heirs of 
salvation; and some have supposed that each good man 
had his particular guardian angel. The scripture account 
of Michael is, that he was an archangel who presided over 
the Jewish nation, as other angels did over the Gentile 
world, as is evident of the kingdoms of Persia and Greece ;f 
that he had an army of angels under his commandthat 
he fought with the dragon, or Satan, and his angels ; and 
that, contending with the devil, he disputed about the body 
of Moses.§ 

Michael lias fought our battles ; Raphael sung 
Our triumphs ; Gabriel ou our errands flown, 

Sent by the Sov’reign. 

Young. 

— 1197. Henry VI., surnamed the Cruel , Emperor of 
Germany, died at Messina. The coronation of this em¬ 
peror was performed in 1191, at Rome, to which city he 


* Michaelmas-Day is one of the regular periods for settling 
rents, &c., in this country; and moreover, as Geese are esteemed 
to be in their greatest perfection in the autumnal season, it is a 
custom with many families to make that bird a part of their re¬ 
past ou the festival of St. Michael. This custom is said, but erro¬ 
neously, to have originated with Queen Elizabeth, who, being at 
Tilbury Fort on the 29th of September, 1588, is said to have dined 
with Sir Neville Umfreville near that place, and to have partaken 
of a goose; that after dinner she drank a half-pint bumper of 
Burgundy to the destruction of the Spanish Armada, soon after 
which she received the joyful tidings that her wishes had been 
fulfilled; that, being delighted with the event, she commemorated 
the same annually by having a goose for dinner, which custom 
became general throughout the kingdom. “ But,” says Mr. Brady, 
in his Claris Calendaria, from which the above is taken, “ the 
custom is of much older date, and equally observed ou the Con¬ 
tinent as in England.’* 

•f- Daniel x. 13. J Rev. xii. 7. § Jude 9. 



400 


SEPTEMBER. 


had repaired from Germany to be crowned. The Pope, 
Celestin III., after putting the crown on the head of the 
emperor, who had kneeled down and bowed very low to 
receive it from his hands, kicked it off, upon which the 
cardinals present took it up and returned it to the Pope, 
who again placed it on Henry’s head and there left it. 

This action his Holiness performed to shew that the 
Pope could take away as well as confer the Imperial au¬ 
thority. See July 8, 1174. 

29, 1560. Died, at Stockholm, in the 70th year of his age, 
Gustavus Vasa, King of Sweden, the deliverer of his 
country from the Danish yoke. He left the nation in a 
condition to strike her enemies with terror and inspire 
her allies with confidence. His body was carried to 
Upsal, where he had been crowned, and which was the 
centre of his conquests, and the place of his frequent 
residence: there his funeral was solemnized with public 
orations and panegyrics ; with the tears of all his subjects; 
and with the grateful remembrance of his great and glo¬ 
rious actions. 

— 1613. New River. “No one,” says Mr. Pennant, 
“ought to be ignorant that this unspeakable benefit is owing 
to a Welshman,* Sir Hugh Middleton, of Denbigh, 
who, on September 28, 1608, began, and on September 
29, 1613, completed, the great work. He brought the 
water from Am well, in Hertfordshire, a distance of 20, 
but, from the necessity of making a detour to avoid hills 
and valleys, it was increased to 38 miles 3 quarters and 
16 poles. Sir Hugh Middleton was ruined by the execu¬ 
tion of his project. So little was the benefit understood, 
that for above thirty years the seventy-two, shares into 
which it was divided, netted only five pounds a-piece. 
Each of these shares was sold originally for a hundred 
pounds, and lately some of them at ^10,000.” Pen¬ 
nant’s London , published in 1791. 


* This exulting observation is doubtless owing to Mr. Pennant 
himself being a Cambro-Britain. The name of Sir Hugh Middle- 
ton deserves, however, to be transmitted with honour and grati¬ 
tude to posterity, as much as those of the builders of the famous 
aqueducts in ancient Rome. A portrait of this public-spirited 
man is preserved in the hall belonging to the company of Gold¬ 
smiths ; but when or where he died, is utterly unknown ; but as 
a deed under the great seal, reconveying to Sir Hugh all Charles 
I.’s right, &c., &c., in the New River, was passed on November 
18, 1636, it is probable he died soon afterwards. 



SEPTEMBER. 


401 


29, 1723. Expired, in lier 87th year. Lady Russell, 
revered almost as a saint, and venerated as the relict of 
that martyr to liberty and the constitution, Lord Rus¬ 
sell, whom she survived above forty years.* When 
Lord Russell was placed within the bar of the Old Bailey 
to take his trial for high treason, he inquired if he might 
have somebody to write to help his memory, and on being 
informed that any of his servants might assist him, he re¬ 
plied, that “his wife was here to do it.” f 

“ Grant me but her !” the noble culprit cried ; 

“ No friend, no advocate, I ask beside." 

Secure in conscious fortitude she rose, 

A present aid, and check’d her gushing woes, 

And ruled her trembling hand, while all around 
A thrill of anguish ran, and mingling cries resound. 

Miss Aikin’s Epistles on IVomen. 

Her letters have been much admired by persons of taste 
and sensibility, both for their thoughts and their diction. 


* See July 21, 1683; also Arith. Quest., No 508, and Cheuies 
in Bourn’s Gaz. 

t It is not derogating from the noble devotedness of Lady 
Rachel Russell to say, that she was neither the first English¬ 
woman, nor one of few who, in the worst days of our judicial 
history, appeared at an ignominious bar, to share the bitterness 
of the hour of trial with a husband, parent, or kinsman, and to 
cheer, uphold, and help, and if it might be, save him. Sir 
Thomas Gascoigne, who was prosecuted at the age of eighty-five, 
for an alleged participation in the Popish Plot , was attended in 
the court of King’s Bench by his grand-daughter. The marchio¬ 
ness of Winchester is said to have aided her father, Lord Staf¬ 
ford, on his trial, by taking notes and preparing papers .X Bate¬ 
man, the last victim of the Rye-House conspiracy, who was 
brought to the bar in an unsound state of mind, and whose son, 
therefore, obtained the indulgence, at that time unprecedented, 
of conducting his father’s cause, was also assisted, but in vain, 
by his daughter; and not to dwell on one or two less remarkable 
instances, all readers of English history will remember the ini ¬ 
quitous condemnation of Sir Thomas Armstrong, and the pas¬ 
sionate interposition of his daughter, who, after vainly striving 
to awaken justice or mercy in the breast of Jefferies, was carried 
from the court, invoking the judgment of the Almighty on her 
father’s murderer. “ I thank God,” said the infatuated tyrant, 
“ I am clamour-proof, and will never fear to do my duty.”— 
Quarterly Review , 1827, p. 522. 


X See December 29, 1G80. 




402 


SEPTEMBER. 


Piety and conjugal affection, expressed in language, con¬ 
sidering the time of its composition, so pure and proper, 
cannot but afford a fine example to the female aspirants 
after delicacy, virtue, taste, and whatever is excellent and 
laudable in the wife, the widow, and the mother. 

29, 1758. Lord Nelson was born in the parsonage-house 
of Burnham Thorpe, in the county of Norfolk, of which 
parish his father was then rector. See Nelson, Index. 

—- 1827. Captain Parry, from his Arctic, and Captain 
Franklin, from his North American expedition, arrived 
at the Admiralty within half an hour of each other. See 
Parry, Index. 

— 1828. Aurora Borealis. This meteoric phenomenon 
was seen to great advantage in London and various parts 
of Great Britain from eight to ten o’clock. About forty 
columns of light appeared, some of which reached an alti¬ 
tude of 35°, were from 1° to 2~° broad, and varied in 
colour from light yellow to light red. This light gradu¬ 
ally increased, and at first intersected the Northern Crown, 
passing a few degrees under Polaris, and between Capella 
and Algol; afterwards it continued to rise and increase 
in breadth till it was nearly 20° above Polaris, and filled 
the space between beta and gamma in the head of the 
Dragon, when it pursued its course between Lyra and 
Aquila, passing Cygnus, and after intersecting the Galaxy, 
(which it considerably surpassed in brightness,) proceeded 
through Andromeda to the Pleiades. This was the most 
beautiful, luminous arc of the Aurora ever observed in 
this latitude .*—Annual Register , Literary Gazette. 

30, 420. Died, at 80, or, as some say, 91 years of age, 
St. Jerome, a famous doctor of the church, and the 
most learned of all the Latin fathers. He was the son of 
Eusebius, and born at Stridon, or Sidrona, a city of the 
ancient Pantionia.f He studied at Rome, went into Gaul, 
visited Aquileia, and travelled into Thrace, Pontus, Bi- 
thynia, Galatia, and Cappadocia. In 372 he retired for 


* For the history of the constellations and stars mentioned in 
the above account, see the late W. Butler’s Ever, on the Globes , 
11th edit. 

f Pannonia was an extensive country of Europe, having the 
Danube on the North, and Dalmatia on the South; a great part 
of it is now called Hungary. Bithynia, Galatia, and Cappadocia, 
are in Asia Minor. See the author’s Scripture Maps , and Geo. 
Exer. on the New Test. General Index. 





SEPTEMBER. 


403 


some time into a desert in Syria, thence visited Jerusalem, 
Constantinople, and Rome; and finally returned to the 
monastery at Bethlehem, where he employed himself in 
writing against those whom he called heretics. His works 
Consist of eleven vols. folio. His Latin version of the 
Old-Testament Scriptures is distinguished by the name of 
the Vulgate , and is the only one acknowledged by the v 
Church of Rome to be authentic. This translation (says 
the Claris Calendaria) has the honour of being the first 
work that was printed ; and there were lately in preserva¬ 
tion three Bibles of that edition, bearing date 1450, one 
of which belonged to the King of Prussia, the second to 
the Benedictine Convent near Mentz, and the third to the 
collection left by the celebrated Cardinal Mazarin;* 
another copy was printed in 1462. See Aug. 14, 1457- 
30, 16/4. Was buried in the Chapel of St. Peter’s, in the 
Tower, Talbot Edwards, Keeper of the Regalia when 
the ruffian Blood made the desperate attempt to steal the 
crown and other ornaments of majesty. (See Aug. 29, 
1680.) In the same Church or Chapel of St. Peter’s, in 
the Tower, that good and conscientious John Fisher, 
bishop of Rochester, beheaded on the 22d of June, 1535, 
was buried. In front of the altar, repose the beauteous 
Anne Boleyn and the guilty Catharine Howard, two ill- 
fated wives of Henry VIII. (See May 19, 1536, and Feb. 
5, 1542.) Here likewise rests, amid the attainted group, 
the mangled corse of the venerable and innocent Mar¬ 
garet, Countess of Salisbury, the last of entire blood of 
the royal line of Plantagenet. (See May 27, 1541.) 
Cromwell too, that mighty pillar of the state, whom 
Wolsey raised from the forge, and placed in the road to 
honour and to greatness; whom Henry made his instru¬ 
ment in the suppression of papal supremacy, and in the 
dissolution of religious houses; whom he loaded with the 
highest offices and honours, and whom he finally cast 
down, and bereft of life and dignity, lies buried here. 
(See July 28, 1540.) Within these walls were also de¬ 
posited the remains of Thomas Seymour, the turbulent 
Baron Sudley, Lord High Admiral of England, who was, 
of necessity, beheaded in 1549, under a warrant from his- 
own brother, Edward, Duke of Somerset, the Protector; 
by whom, within three years, he was followed to the 
scaffold and the grave. This good and lamented duke 


* See Nov. 19, 1703. 



•404 


SEPTEMBER. 


was buried in front of the altar between the unfortunate 
queens above mentioned; and about eighteen months 
afterwards, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, his 
ambitious rival, the procurer of his death, was laid head¬ 
less by his side. (See January 22, 1552, and August 22, 
1553.) Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, beheaded for 
aspiring to the bed of Mary, Queen of Scots ; his virtuous 
son Philip, Earl of Arundel, who languished and died 
within the dreary walls of a prison; and Robert Devereux, 
the favourite Earl of Essex, whom his fond mistress re¬ 
luctantly gave to the block after a long struggle between 
fear and affection, were likewise buried here. (See Feb. 
25, 1601.) Under the communion table was interred 
James, Duke of Monmouth, the handsome, profligate, and 
ungrateful son of King Charles II. (See July 15, 1685.) 
Under the gallery, at the western end of the chapel, were 
deposited the headless bodies of the penitent Earl of Kil¬ 
marnock, the undaunted Balmerino, and the infamous 
Simon Lovat, leaders in the memorable rebellion of 1745. 
They were buried in the same grave. Pennant; Bay- 
ley’s Hist, of the Tower. 

30, 1800. Peace was concluded between France and 
Algiers. This place is situated in the north part of 
Africa and south of Minorca, an island in the Mediter¬ 
ranean. The inhabitants are the most noted pirates on 
earth, as they make prizes of all ships belonging to 
Christian nations that do not procure their amity. The 
Algerines, have, indeed, for ages, braved the resentment 
of the most powerful states in Christendom. The Em¬ 
peror Charles V. lost a fine fleet and army in an unsuc¬ 
cessful expedition against them in 1541. Our intrepid 
Blake, (see April 20, 1657,) however, in 1653, terrified 
the Algerines, Tunisians, and Tripolitans, into pacific 
measures with England; but the Algerines have since 
repulsed the most vigorous attacks of European powers, 
particularly those of Spain, in the years 1773, 1733, and 
1784. Yet it has been asserted, that three English fifty- 
gun ships, manned with brave British tars, might batter 
Algiers about the ears of its inhabitants from the harbour; 
a prediction which was literally fufilled by Admiral Lord 
Exmouth, on the 27th of August, 1816, who moreover 
compelled these piratical ruffians to make a peace advan¬ 
tageous to England. 

The prospect of the country and sea from Algiers is 
very beautiful, that city being built on a declivity of a 
mountain. The natives are chiefly Mahometans. 


SEPTEMBER. 


405 


30, 1812. The eagles and colours taken from the French 
in Spain were deposited in Whitehall chapel. Lord, now 
Duke of Wellington, with the brave officers and troops 
under his command, had taken Cuidad Rodrigo by storm, 
made themselves masters of Badajos, gained a great vic¬ 
tory over Marmont at Salamanca, and entered Valladolid 
and Madrid. From these places the eagles and colours 
had been transmitted to England. 

— 1826. A Powder Magazine, near Ostend, blew up 
with a tremendous explosion. It contained 1300 barrels 
of gunpowder—about sixty tons’ weight. Many houses 
were damaged by the concussion, seweral persons were 
killed, and many severely wounded. 


( 406 ) 


OCTOBER. 

“ The fading, many-colour’d woods, 

Shade deep’ning over shade, the country round 
Itnbrown ; a crowded umbrage, dusk and dun, 

Of every hue, from wan-declining green 
To sooty dark.” 

October was the eighth* month of the year in Romu¬ 
lus’s calendar, which the name implies; though the tenth 
in that of Numa, Julius Caesar, &c. October has still re¬ 
tained its first name, notwithstanding all the different appel¬ 
lations which the senate and Roman emperors would have 
given it. The senate ordered it to be called Faustinas, in 
honour of Faustina, the wife of Antoninus the emperor; 
Commodus would have had it bear the name of Invictus; 
and Domitian caused it to be denominated Domitianus , 
after his own name. October was sacred to Mars, and 
under his protection, and to whom a horse, termed October 
Equits, was annually sacrificed in this month, either be¬ 
cause the horse is a warlike animal, f or to punish him for 
the taking of Troy.f A race was run with chariots, drawn 
by two horses, previous to the sacrifice, and he that ran 
quickest was adjudged to be the victim. This month is pe¬ 
culiarly interesting to the man of taste and feeling. The 
painter finds in the richly varied foliage of the groves, an 
interesting study for his pencil, while the genius of “ phi¬ 
losophic melancholy” derives from the falling leaf and 
“ pale descending year” a train of grateful and soothing- 
sentiments. 

Early in the month many of the birds which had repaired 
to our country as a summer residence, leave it to pass their 
winter in more genial climes: among these the swallow is 
conspicuous: 

-into wanner climes convey’d, 

With other kindred birds of season, there 
He twitters cheerful, till the vernal months 
Invite him welcome back. 


* From octo , eight. 

t See Arith. Quest, art. Horse, and Siege of Troy. 






OCTOBER. 


407 


In exchange for these, some birds take refuge in our more 
temperate climate from the stern winter of the arctic regions. 
The redwing, thrush, and the fieldfare, visit us; and the 
woodcock, after spending the summer in Norway, Sweden, 
and other northern parts, appears this month on our eastern 
coast, though the main body of them does not come till 
November or December. 

-He, of times 

Intelligent, the harsh Hyperborean ice 
Shuns for our equal winters : when our suns 
Cleave the chill’d soil, he backward wings his way 
To Scandinavian summers. 

In this month is the vintage of the wine countries of Europe. 

October, says Peacham, is drawn in a garment of yellow 
and carnation; upon his head is a garland of oak leaves, in 
his right hand the sign Scorpio,* and in his left a basket of 
services. 


REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

I, Is the day, appointed by act of parliament for the com¬ 
mencement of the decoy business in Lincolnshire, whence 
the London markets are chiefly supplied with wild ducks, 
teals, and widgeons. Ten decoys near Wainfleet have 
been known to send to the metropolis, in a single season, 
31,200 of these wild-fowl. See Pennant’s Zoology , 
Vol. II.; Dr. Rees’s New Cyclop, or Ency. Brit. art. 
Decoy; and Aikin’s Natural Hist, of the Year, for an 
amusing account of the manner in which the birds are 
ensnared. 

— 1207* Was born, at Winchester, Henry III., son of 
King John, and who, in 1216, succeeded to the crown. 
He is sometimes styled Henry of Winchester; and since 
the time of this monarch, princes’ children have occasi¬ 
onally taken their names from their natal places, as Ed¬ 
ward of Caernarvon, Henry of Monmouth, John of Gaunt, 
William of Hatfield, &c., &c. 

— 1554. Queen Mary, the Sanguinary, was crowned at 
Westminster. She was of the Tudor line, and succeeded 
Edward VI. 

_ 1761. Laudohn, a skilful Austrian commander, made 

himself master, by a coup-de-main, of the strong fortress 


* See Exer. on the Globes , 11th edition 





408 ■ 


OCTOBER. 


of Schweidnitz. Lieutenant-General Zastrow, the Go¬ 
vernor, and about 3000 men, were made prisoners. The 
king - of Prussia caused the Governor, who was a brave 
and able officer, to be imprisoned, and afterwards ba¬ 
nished him from his dominions. Soon after this capture, 
the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Germany had 
an interview, when Laudohn was invited to their table, 
and going to seat himself opposite to the king, Frederick, 
making room for him by his side, said, “ Venez vous 
mettre ici, M. de Laudohn; j’aime mieux vous avoir a 
cot£ de moi qu’en face.” Laudohn died in 1790, aged 74. 
On his tomb, which he erected during his life, was the 
following inscription : Commemoratio mortis optima phi - 
losophia —The remembrance of death is the best philo¬ 
sophy. See Feb. 24, 1525, note. 

1, 1770. Died, at Newbury, about 40 miles from Boston, 

in North America, the Rev. George Whitefield, a 
native of Gloucester; at the Bell Inn of which city, then 
kept by his mother, he was born in 1714. He was a 
minister in the Established Church, and a very celebrated 
preacher among the Methodists,* both in England and 
America. He instituted the orphan-house at Georgia; 
and erected two extensive buildings for public worship in 
London; one of them in Tottenham-Court Road, and the 
other near Moorfields. He had many establishments of 
the same kind in various parts of the kingdom. 

— 1795. Died, on the spot where he first drew breath, 
at Dishley, in Leicestershire, Robert Bakewell, the 
most successful farmer and improver of horses and cattle 
that England ever knew. Many anecdotes are related of 
his remarkable humanity to animals of every kind. This 
enterprising man was certainly much more deserving of 
the gratitude of his country, than the warrior who slays 
his thousands, or the statesman who drains the treasures 
or subverts the liberties of a nation. Mr. Bakewell was 
born in 1726. 


* The Methodists are a very large, and, it is said, increasing 
body of religionists: their tenets, discipline, and designs, are often 
misunderstood, and of course misrepresented. “ Our end,” says 
Mr. Benson, in his Apology, “ is not to form a sect, or to bring 
people to this or the other speculative opinion, mode of worship, 
or form of church government, but simply to make them Chris¬ 
tians—Christians in heart and life, in temper, word, and work— 
such as lived in the early days of Christianity, and such as we 
conceive may still live.” See Wesley, and Toplady, Index ; and 
Geo. Exer. on the Neiv Test. art. Methodists. 



OCTOBER. 409 

1, 1801. Preliminaries of peace between England and 
France were signed at London. 

— 1811. Died, aged 82, at Dromore, in Ireland, Dr. 
Percy, thirty years bishop of that see ; a man of refined 
taste and extensive erudition, and one of the oldest mem¬ 
bers of the celebrated literary club established by Dr. 
Johnson. His publications, though numerous and useful, 
were not offerings to theology.* He traced modern lite¬ 
rature from its rude commencement, and particularly in¬ 
vestigated the literary antiquities of northern nations. 
To the successful prosecution of this subject he was prin¬ 
cipally indebted for the reputation which he acquired 
among the writers of his time. This work is entitled, 
“ Reliques of Ancient English Poetry,” &c., &c.—Of 
original poety, the muse of Percy, it is said, produced 
only “ The Hermit of Warkworth,” and the beautiful, 
well-known song, “ O Nannie , wilt thou gang with me ?” 
which is to be found in Vol. VI. of Dodsley’s Collection. 

Dr. Percy was born at Bridgenorth, in Shropshire, and 
was descended from the ancient line of Percy, of the 
house of Northumberland. 

2, 1629. Died, at the age of 55, while performing massf 
at the altar, Peter Berulle, a celebrated cardinal,! 
distinguished for his piety, moral virtues, and learning. 
He was born at Troyes, department of Aube, province of 
Champagne, France. See April 15, 17/6, and Sudden 
Deaths, Index. 

— 1767- Dr- John Evans, author of the “ Sketch of the 
Denominations of the Christian World,” and numerous 
other works, was born at Usk, Monmouthshire. His 
Sketch, the copy-right of which he sold for 10/., passed 
during his life through 14 editions; and he was frequently 
consoled by his friends, for this inadequate remuneration, 
by being reminded, that the Hymns of Watts and the 


* One of his performances was, however, connected immedi¬ 
ately with his clerical profession ; this was “ A Key to the New 
Testament; giving an Account of the several Books, their Con¬ 
tents, their Authors, and of the Times, Places, and Occasions on 
which they were respectively written.” This justly popular little 
work has passed through several editions, and has been adopted 
in the universities.—It should be, moreover, noticed, that Dr. 
Percy has the reputation of having performed his episcopal duties 
with vigilance and assiduity. See the Mon. Repos. Vol. VII. pp. 
1—8, and 65—72, 1812. 

f See Index. 


T 


J See Index. 




410 


OCTOBER. 


Paradise Lost of Milton were sold for nearly the same 
sum. See Butler’s Arith. Quest. No. 388. 

2, 1/80. Major Andre, Adjutant-General to the British 
army in America, a rising- young* officer of great merit, 
was hanged as a spy, at Tappan, in New York province. 
His case was referred to a board of fourteen general offi¬ 
cers, who unanimously declared that, agreeably to the 
law and usage of nations, he ought to suffer death. The 
accomplished and gallant Andr6, “ buoyed,” as he him¬ 
self expressed it, “ above the fears of death by a life well 
spent,” met his fate with a composure that excited the 
admiration and melted the hearts of all the spectators. 
Major Andr6 was buried near the spot at which he suf¬ 
fered; but his remains were, in 1822, at the request of 
his relatives, disinterred, conveyed to England, and, by 
permission of his Majesty, deposited beneath a tablet, 
which, soon after his death, was erected in Westminster 
Abbey, to commemorate his virtues and unfortunate end. 
See Dr. Gordon’s History of the American War , and 
Marshall’s Life of General Washington. —Arnold, 
the American General, who had offered to betray West 
Point to Sir Henry Clinton, and in the negociation of 
which Major Andre was detected, on the apprehension of 
that unfortunate young officer, came over to the English. 
Soon after the American war, at a royal levee, he was in¬ 
troduced to an English lord as the American General 
Arnold. “ What! the traitor Arnold !” exclaimed the 
nobleman, turning on his heel in disgust. A challenge 
was given by the general, accepted by his antagonist, 
who received his fire and discharged his own pistol in the 
air. “ Why do you not return the fire ?” exclaimed the 
general. “ Because I am not an executioner ,” replied 
the nobleman. 

— 1786. Died Lord Keppel, who, on various occasions, 
had greatly distinguished himself in the naval service 
of his country. Having ever been the friend of the me¬ 
ritorious and the seamen’s protector, no officer possessed 
the love of the navy in a higher degree. See July 27, 
1778. 

3, 1690. Died, at Urie, in Kincardineshire, Robert Bar¬ 
clay, an eminent writer among the people called Quakers. 
He was the son of Colonel David Barclay, and born at 
Edinburgh, 1648. His principal work is an “Apology 
for the Quakers,” the dedication of which to King 
Charles II. is very remarkable for the uncommon frank¬ 
ness and simplicity with which it is written. This work 


OCTOBER. 


411 


is esteemed tlie standard of the doctrines of the Quakers, 
and rendered great service to that very respectable class 
of society all over Europe, having been published in 
many languages. See Fox, George, Index. 

3, 1691. Limerick, on the Shannon, in Ireland, surren¬ 
dered to King William’s forces; which terminated the 
war in that country. See July 1, 1690. 

4, 1226. Died Francis of Assisi,* a great saint of the 
Romish church, and founder of the Franciscans, or Grey 
Friars. The monks of this order having the exclusive 
privelege in Peru of selling shrouds, acquire a very large 
income from the sale, as no one wishes that a corpse 
should be buried without the sacred habit of St. Francis. 
See Jan. 23, 1516, and Aug. 28, 430. 

— 1/04. Selkirk was left on the island of Juan Fer¬ 
nandez by Captain Stradling. See Sept. 1 and 11. 

— 1814. Samuel Jackson Pratt, Esq., who commenced 
his literary life under the name of Courteney Melmoth, 
closed his earthly career at Birmingham. He was a pro¬ 
lific writer ; and all his works tend to promote the inte¬ 
rests of virtue. Mr. Pratt was descended from a respect¬ 
able family in Huntingdonshire. 

5, 1767- Were inclosed at one shooting out of the nets 
in St. Ives’s Bay, Cornwall, as many Pilchards as filled 
7000 hogsheads, each of which was estimated to contain 
35,000 fish, bringing the whole to the astonishing number 
of 245,000,000. See July 23, 1744, and Arith. Quest. 
10th edition, art. Pilchards and Herrings. 

— 1821. Mr. Rich, the learned and indefatigable ex¬ 
plorer of the ruins of Babylon, fell a victim to the ardour 
of his pursuit of science, at Schiras, in Persia. His ma¬ 
nuscripts, coins, gems, &c., were purchased by govern¬ 
ment for the benefit of the public for 7,500/., and are now 
in the British Museum. 

6, 1285. Philip III. of France, surnamed the Bold, died at 
Perpignan. He was succeeded by his son Philip the Fair. 

— 1783. Peace was proclaimed with America. See 
April 19, 1775. 

— 1815. Migration of Swallows. An assemblage of 
these birds sailed (so to speak) from Rotherham in York- 


* Assisi, or Assisio, is an episcopal town of Italy, about 70 
miles north of Rome, built on the side of a very high mountain. 
The cathedral of St. Francis is very magnificent, and composed of 
three churches one above another. 

t 2 



412 


OCTOBER. 


shire, with as much order, discipline, and regularity, as 
ever a fleet left the British Channel. See a pamphlet en¬ 
titled, “ The Swallows,-” and Exer. on the Globes , lltli 
edit. art. Hirando. 

7, 1571. Battle of Lepanto. On this day was fought 
a celebrated naval engagement between the Turks and 
Venetians, the latter being assisted by the Germans and 
Spaniards. It took place in the Gulf of Lepanto, in LI- 
vadia, Turkey in Europe. The Turks, after a long, obsti¬ 
nate, and sanguinary conflict, were utterly defeated, with 
the loss of 30,000 men. All their great commanders were 
slain, and 200 of their galleys taken, burnt, or sunk. 
This is represented as the greatest overthrow experienced 
by the Turks since the victory obtained by Tamerlane 
over Bajazet; and it quieted the fears of Christian Europe 
respecting the increasing power of the Infidels. Great 
rejoicings were, therefore, made on account of this useful 
victory at Rome, Spain, Naples, and England. The com¬ 
bined fleet was commanded by Don John of Austria, one 
of the greatest captains of the 16tli century. He was the 
illegitimate son of the Emperor Charles V., and, after a 
short but brilliant military career, died in his camp at 
Namur in 1578, in the 32nd year of his age.* 

— 1748. The famous Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, a hand¬ 
some town in Germany, was concluded between the King 
of Great Britain and his allies on one side, and the Kings 
of France and Spain on the other. 

— 1 785. Died, at Deptford, in Kent, where he had been 
thirty-one years pastor of a Dissenting congregation, the 
Rev. John Olding, whose conduct as a Christiam Minis¬ 
ter was uniformly marked by fervent piety and godly sin¬ 
cerity. He published an excellent sermon on “ Ejacula¬ 
tory Prayer Mr. Olding was born at Dartmouth in 
Devonshire, and received his education under Dr. Dod- 


* In this engagement, Spurantio, a noble Venetian, rather than 
fall into the Infidels’ hands, blew himself and his galley up. 
Cervantes, the immortal author of Don Quixote, followed, in his 
youthful days, the profession of a soldier, and was in the battle 
of Lepanto, in which he either lost his left hand, or had it so 
maimed that he never recovered its use. This accident obliged 
him to renounce the military service, and to return towards his 
own country; but his ship being taken by the Algerines in his 
passage home, he was detained nearly nine years in slavery. Of 
this period of his life many particulars are interwoven in his 
novel, “ The Captive. See April 23, 1616. 



OCTOBER. 


413 


dridge, at Northampton. The author of this work, the late 
Mr. Butler, married his daughter. 

7, 1795. Expired, at Hanover, Dr. John George Zim- 
mermann, first physician to his Britannic Majesty for 
Hanover, but more eminent as a philosopher. His valu¬ 
able publications have been translated into English, and 
are highly esteemed, particularly his dissertation on “ So¬ 
litude.” He was born in 1728, at Brugg, a small town 
situated on the borders of the river Aar, in the late Can¬ 
ton of Berne, but now in the Canton of Aargau, Switzer¬ 
land. 

— 1796. Died Dr. Thomas Reid, professor of moral 
philosophy in the university of Glasgow, and distin¬ 
guished as a mathematician and metaphysician; born in 
1709. 

8, The Roman martyrology places the feast of Simeon, a 
holy man at Jerusalem, who expected the redemption of 
Israel ;* having been assured that he should not die before 
he had seen Christ the Lord. He therefore came into the 
temple, moved by an extraordinary impulse, just at the 
time that Joseph and Mary presented Jesus there, in obe¬ 
dience to the law. Then Simeon took the child in his 
arms, and gave thanks to God in the words recorded in 
Luke ii. 25, &c. See Zara, in Bourn’s Gazetteer, 3rd 
edition. 

— 1744. Admiral Balchen, in the Victory man of war, 
of 110 guns and 1100 men, was lost near Alderney, a 
small island in the English Channel, near Cape La Hogue, 
in France.f George II. settled 500/. per annum on the 


* Luke ii. 25. Israel was the name given by the angel to Jacob, 
when he wrestled with him. Gen. xxxii. 28, and xxxv. 10. Is¬ 
raelites are the descendants of Israel. They were first called He¬ 
brews from their progenitor Heber;£ afterwards Israelites; and, 
lastly, Jews, from the tribe of Judah, the most considerable of 
all the Jewish tribes. 

+ The strait between this island and the coast of France is 
termed the Race of Alderney, which is sometimes, especially in . 
stormy weather, a very dangerous passage. It proved fatal to the 
son of Henry I., who was drowned there Nov. 26, 1120, with 
above a hundred and forty young noblemen of the principal fami- 


j Gen. xi. 14. Some, however, maintain, that Abraham and his de¬ 
scendants were called Hebrews from the word heber, which signilie* 
beyond, because they came from beyond the Euphrates. 





414 


OCTOBER. 


admiral’s widow. The unhappy fate of this brave officer 
is alluded to by Dr. Young in the following lines : 

Ocean ! thou dreadful and tumultuous home 
Of dangers, at eternal war with man ! 

Death’s capital, where most he domineers, 

With all his chosen terrors frowning round. 

And lately feasted high at Albion’s cost. 

8, 1795. Expired, in Westminster, Andrew Kippis, 
Doctor of Divinity, a very celebrated English biographer,' 
and the principal author and conductor of the second edi¬ 
tion of that great national work, the Biographia Britan- 
nica. Dr. Kippis was also greatly distinguished for the 
virtues and accomplishments which form the chief orna¬ 
ments of private life. As a minister, he was not less 
eminent for his profound acquaintance with every branch 
of theology, than for the happy manner in which he ap¬ 
plied it to the improvement of those who attended his 
ministry. His sermons are remarkable for perspicuity, 
elegance, and energy. This great and good man was 
born at Nottingham, in 1725; and was interred in Bun- 
hill-Fields, London. 

— 1820. Died, in the 53rd year of his age, at his palace 
of Sans-souci, in the island of Hayti, (late St. Domingo,) 
Christophe, King of that island by the title of Henry L 
A conspiracy was formed against him by seven of the Chiefs, 
who marched a body of troops to dethrone him. Being 
deserted by the army which he sent to oppose the insur¬ 
gents, Christophe shot himself through the heart. He 
was a child of the Revolution, during which he was the 
ringleader of revolts. At the death of Dessalines, he 
grasped at the supreme authority, and assuming the title 
of Henry I., he and his consort, Marie Louise, were 
crowned with great solemnity.* * The power which Chris¬ 
tophe acquired by intrigue and the sword was maintained 
by rigour and despotism : that severity at length excited 
the rebellion by which he lost his crown and life. His 


lies in England and Normandy. The king, on hearing of the 
calamity, fainted away, and was never seen to smile from that 
moment to the day of his death. Through it, however, part of 
the French fleet made their escape after the battle of La Hogue.t 

* See June 2, 1811. 


t See May la, 1092. 




OCTOBER. 


415 


government was, however, in some respects paternal. He 
established in almost every town in his dominions a school 
on the system of Lancaster, where the children were in¬ 
structed in the English and French languages, and in the 
useful branches of education; and one of his favourite 
objects was to establish the English tongue, as that of his 
subjects. Christophe was a native of the island of St. 
Christopher, one of the Windward Islands. Hayti is now 
governed by a President, and has been recognized as an 
independent republic by the government of France. 

9, 1326. Sir Hugh Spencer, one of Edward II.’s fa¬ 
vourites, was executed at Bristol, which city had been 
taken by Queen Isabella, on St. Denys’s Day. 

Denys, or Dionysius the Areopagite, was converted to 
the Faith at Athens, by St. Paul, when preaching before 
the supreme court of the judges of life and death, insti¬ 
tuted by Solon, of which Dionysius was a member; and 
from thence has ever after been distinguished by the addi¬ 
tion Areopagite, a title given to these judges from the 
place in which they usually assembled, which was called 
Areopagus, or the Hill of Mars. Clavis Calenduria. 

— 1514. On this day Louis XII. was married, at Abbe¬ 
ville, in the department of the Somme, province of Picar¬ 
dy, France, to the Princess Mary, sister of our king Henry 
VIII. The French monarch was in the 53rd year of his 
age; the princess in her 16th. See Jan 1, 1515. 

— 1759. The store vessel came into Plymouth from her 
moorings at the Eddystone, about fourteen miles from 
that place, with all the workmen on board; the light¬ 
house there being entirely completed, under the direction 
of that excellent mechanic and engineer, Mr. John Smea- 
ton. See October 28, 1792. 

10, 1794. The heroic Kosciusko, the Polish general, was 
defeated, covered with wounds, and taken prisoner by the 
Russians, a few leagues from Warsaw.* When the troops 
of the Empress Catharine of Russia invaded Poland, and 
acted with a ferocity that would have disgraced the most 
savage nation, an avenger seemed to start up in the per¬ 
son of the brave Kosciusko, whose brilliant actions afforded 
a short gleam of comfort to his miserable countrymen 
but it was found impossible to save a nation in which the 
peasants had been depressed by bondage, and the nobles 
had degenerated into the worst of tyrants, by means of an 
usurped authority. 


* See Maeieyovitch, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 




416 


OCTOBER. 


/ What constitutes a state ? 

Not high-rais'd battlements, or labour’d mound,. 

Thick wall, or moated gate ; 

Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown’d ; 

Not bays, and broad-arm'd ports, 

Where laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ; 

Not starr’d and spangled courts. 

Where low-brow’d baseness wafts perfume to pride j 

No; MEN, HIGH-MINDED MEN; 

Men, who their duties know, 

But know their rights, and, knowing. 

Dare maintain ; 

These constitute a state. 

Sir William Jones. 

Kosciusko remained some time as a prisoner at Peters¬ 
burg, which he was permitted to leave in 1817, and after 
visiting Sweden, England, America, and France, he re¬ 
tired to Switzerland, in which country he died; but his 
body was conveyed to Poland, and was buried in the 
cathedral of Cracow, next to those of Sobieski and Ponia- 
towski. 

Amid the brave, the generous, and the pure. 

Thy name, O Kosciusko I shall endure. 

Cottle. 

See June 17, 1696; July 8, 1709; and Bourn’s Gaz. 
art. Soleure and Cracow. 

11, The Greeks celebrate Philip the Deacon, who was so 
called because he was chosen to that office by the apostles 
after our Saviour’s resurrection.* He preached the Gos¬ 
pel in Samaria, where he performed many miracles, and 
made several converts to Christianity.f He was after¬ 
wards ordered by the angel of the Lord to meet the gran¬ 
dee or officer belonging to Candace, queen of Ethiopia, 
whom he likewise induced to become a disciple of our 
Lord.}; After baptizing this convert at Gaza, Philip was 
miraculously conveyed away to Azotus. This happened 
A. D. 33, and the Scripture does not inform us what became 
of this holy deacon afterwards. Some say that he went 
to Tralles,§ where he founded a church, of which he was 


* Acts vi. 5. See also Deacon, Index, 
f Acts viii. 1. X Acts viii. 26. 

§ Tralles was a city of Lydia, in Asia Minor, East of Ephesus. 
Samaria, Ethiopia, Gaza, Azotus, and Ctesarea, are in the author’s 
Scripture Maps. See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 



OCTOBER. 


417 


the apostle and bishop : others affirm, that he died in 
peace at Caesarea, (his supposed natal place,) and that 
three of his daughters were buried with him. It is certain 
that his daughters lived in that city. * 

II, 1531. Zuinglius, (Ulricus,) a zealous Swiss reformer, 
who, as the leader of a party, displayed great firmness 
and presence of mind, was slain in a battle with his Ca¬ 
tholic opponents; the disputants not being able to settle 
their religious controversies without having recourse to 
arms. Zuinglius studied the learned languages at Basil 
and Berne, and philosophy at Vienna; acquired great 
popularity as a preacher at Glaris and Zurich, and was 
killed in the 44th year of his age, at Cappel, near Zug. 
He was chaplain to the army. “ Whatever may have 
been thy faith,” said one of his adversaries on viewing 
his dead body, “ I am sure that thou wast always sincere, 
and that thou lovedst thy country: may God take thy 
soul to his mercy.”—An active charity, a patriarchal 
simplicity, and manners still more powerful than laws, 
formed the noble legacy bequeathed by Zuinglius to his 
country. Hess’s Life of Zuingle , translated by Miss 
Lucy Aikin. The principal reformers are mentioned 
under the article Luther, February 18, 1546. 

— 1705. Died, Monsieur Amontons, a native of Nor¬ 
mandy, and the reputed inventor of the Telegraph,f an 
instrument by which information may be almost instan¬ 
taneously conveyed to a considerable distance. See April 
2, 1755, and Arith . Quest, art. Century. 

— 1721. Expired, in the 85th year of his age, at Mort- 
lake, in Surrey, Edward Colston, a native of Bristol, 
and ever-memorable for his numerous benefactions and 
charities, which are recorded on a monument erected to 
his memory in the church of All Saints, the place of his 
interment, in that city. This monument derives addi¬ 
tional interest from its bearing a statue of the philanthro¬ 
pist, by Rysbraeck. It is still a custom to place a tuft 
of such flowers as the season affords in the bosom of 
Colston’s statue every Sunday; a mark of respectful at¬ 
tention which is more eloquent in his praise than the most 
studied eulogium. 


* Acts xxi. 8, 9. 

f The word Telegraph comes from two Greek words, viz. 
rsjAf, far off, and ypacpa, to write. 

T 3 



418 


OCTOBER. 


Only the actions of the Just, 

Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust. 

See Arith. Quest . 10th edit. 

11, 1727. George II. and his Queen, Caroline, were 
crowned at Westminster. 

— 1797. Duncan’s Victory. Admiral Duncan defeated 
the Dutch fleet off Camperdown, somewhat south of the 
Island of Texel, on the coast of Holland. In conse¬ 
quence of this most splendid victory, which covered with 
laurels the brave Admiral, he was created Lord Viscount 
Duncan, of Camperdown; to which honour a pension of 
2000 1. per annum was annexed. See August 4, 1804. 

12, 1492. Columbus discovered Guanahani, or St. Sal¬ 
vador, one of the Bahama Islands, in the West Indies. 
This was the first land he saw in the New World. 

Here first his drooping sails Columbus furl’d, 

And sweetly rested in another world. 

The wondering islanders supposed that the ships com¬ 
manded by Columbus had risen from the crystal firma¬ 
ment which bounded their horizon, or that they had 
descended from above on their ample wings, and that the 
marvellous beings who landed from them were inhabitants 
of the skies. 

So great was the ignorance and prejudice which pre¬ 
vailed when Columbus purposed to undertake a voyage 
to the Indies, by sailing westward, that his application for 
assistance was treated with contempt and derision by 
the republic of Genoa, and the kings of Portugal and 
England. 

There were who jeered, 

And laughed to scorn his visionary scheme; 

They thought the glorious sun’s resplendent beams 
So brlghty cheered 

And vivified alone the spot of earth [their birth. 

Where they, like worms, had lived and grovelled from 

— 1537. Edward VI., the only son of Henry VIII. and 
Jane Seymour, was born at Hampton-Court: his mother 
expired the succeeding day. See July 6, 1553. 

— 1576. Maximilian II., styled the German Titus, the 
delight of mankind, died at Ratisbon, after a reign of 12 
years. He w r as the son of Ferdinand I., and w-as born at 
Vienna, in 1527. During his reign the Dutch provinces 
revolted from Philip II. of Spain. On that monarch’s 
application to him for assistance, to reduce his rebellious 


OCTOBER. 


419 


subjects, he sent his brother Charles to endeavour to 
appease the bigot’s wrath, observing, that it was not by 
staining the altars with the blood of heretics that the 
Father of the whole human race was to be honoured. 

12, 1/02. Sir George Rooke, with the English and Dutch 
fleet, attacked the French fleet and the Spanish galleons, 
in the port of Vigo, in Gallicia, Spain; when several men 
of war and galleons were taken, and many destroyed, and 
abundance of plate and other valuable effects fell into the 
hands of the conquerors. 

— 1748. Was born at St. John’s, near Worcester, Mr. 
William Butler, author of this work. He was a good 
husband, a most affectionate father, a friend both in 
prosperity and adversity, and a generous contributor to 
the sons and daughters of affliction. Such was his feel¬ 
ing disposition, that a distressing story would often draw 
tears from his eyes; and he was exceedingly shocked at 
any act of cruelty to man or beast, mercy to both being 
always inculcated by him. The editor of this work has 
the gratifying, though melancholy, pleasure of testifying 
that the life of this kind companion and this faithful guide, 
for the last thirty years, was one continued series of 
labour, patience, charity, generosity, temperance, piety, 
and goodness. See, for a brief account of this excellent 
man, August 1, 1822. 

— 1768. Catharine II., Empress of Russia, was inocu¬ 
lated for the small-pox, by Dr. Ditnsdale, of London, 
whom she most liberally rewarded for his attendance at 
Petersburgh, by presenting him with 10,000/. sterling, 
settling upon him an annual pension of 500/., and creating 
him a Baron of the Russian empire. 

— 1798. Sir John Borlase Warren obtained a vic¬ 
tory over a French squadron of ships off Tory Island, 
adjacent to the north-west part of Ireland.* 

1.3, The Latins commemorate Carpus, who resided at 
Troas, at whose house the apostle Paul lodged and left a 
cloak, or as some commentators explain it, a bag to hold 
writings, or books written on parchment; believed, in 
this instance, to have contained the Scriptures, and which 
he requests Timothy to bring to him. The Greeks say 
that Carpus was one of the seventy disciples; became 
bishop of Berea, and died there in peace. 


* This gallant officer died in 1822, at Greenwich Hospital, 
while on a visit to Sir Richard Keates, the Governor. 



420 


OCTOBER. 


13, 1399. Henry IV. was crowned, the very day on which 
the year before he had been banished. Richard II., 
grandson of Edward III., being deposed, the Duke of 
Lancaster was proclaimed king by the title of Henry IV., 
in prejudice to the Duke of York, the right heir to the 
crown; whence sprang animosities which filled the king¬ 
dom with civil commotions, and deluged it with blood. 
See June 21, 13/7; also Bourn’s Gazetteer , Towton, 
Wakefield, Hexham, Albans, Tewkesbury, Barnet, and 
Bosworth Field; and Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Roses. 

— 1815. Napoleon Bonaparte, who lately “ bestrode 
the majestic world like a Colossus,” arrived at St. Helena, 
“ an exile prisoner;” affording a striking instance that if 
“ vaulting ambition” can raise a man from the lowest 
station, it can also prostrate him from the highest. A 
declaration ascribed to this captive chief is full of wisdom, 
and offers a salutary lesson to ** the wicked rulers of man¬ 
kind :” “ I have sinned against the liberal ideas of the 
age, and I have fallen.” (See Bonaparte, Index.) On 
the same day that the exiled emperor landed from the 
Northumberland man of war at St. Helena, Murat, whom 
he had raised to the throne of Naples, was shot, at four 
o’clock in the afternoon, in the fortress of Pizzo, Cala¬ 
bria, Italy. 

14, 1066. Battle of Hastings. On this day was fought 
the memorable battle of Hastings, which transferred the 
crown of England to the Duke of Normandy; and Oc¬ 
tober 14 was the day of the birth, as well as of the defeat 
and death, of Harold II. 

Harold and his two brothers, who were also slain in 
this engagement, were interred in Waltham Abbey Church, 
Essex. A plain stone, of grey marble, was, it is said, 
erected over the king, with this expressive epitaph, 
“ Haroldus Infelix.” 

— 1601. Died, at Prague, in Bohemia, the illustrious as¬ 
tronomer Tycho Brahe, repeating several times, I have 
not lived in vain* He was born in 1546, at Knudstorp, 


* See April 19, 1791. Dr. Robertson, the historian, in one of 

his last conversations with Dr. Erskine, expressed his joy in re¬ 
flecting that his life on earth had not been altogether in vain. 
Epicurus, a few hours only previous to his dissolution, speaking 
of the torments of his disorder to a friend, told him, that the 
joy he then felt in his mind in the review of his public instructions, 
stood, as it were, in battle array betwixt him and the agonies 





OCTOBER. 


421 


in Schonen, Sweden, a district which at that period be¬ 
longed to Denmark; hence he is styled the “ Danish 
Astronomer.” He made several important discoveries, 
enriched astronomy with many facts; and was the first 
who determined the effect of refraction, whereby we see 
the sun or any star above the horizon before it is so in 
reality; as we see the bottom of a vessel when filled with 
water, which, in the same position, we do not perceive 
when empty. The labours of Tycho attracted the atten¬ 
tion of Europe. The learned went to consult him, and 
the noble to see him. See August 20, 1589. 

14, 1644. William Penn, the son of Admiral Sir Wil¬ 
liam Penn, was born on Tower Hill, in London. Me¬ 
moirs of this illustrious character have been published 
by Thomas Clarkson,* M. A.; and if departed spirits 
are conscious of what is passing in this lower world, Penn 
himself must be delighted on having found so congenial a 
biographer.—Such a publication as this, say the Monthly 
Reviewers, is worth a thousand common memoirs. It 
affords a picture on which the philosophic Christian can 
dwell with pleasure; and which, in spite of surrounding 
baseness and profligacy, encourages a hope of the moral 
amelioration of the world. Indeed, the noble example 
here displayed ought not only to teach us the high moral 
capabilities of the human mind, but it ought to be so 


which he endured.f I shall be happy, says the pious Sturm, if, 
at the close of life, I carry with me to the grave the merit of 
having been useful to society. Of persons whose studies and 
pursuits are accommodated to general utility, it may be truly 
affirmed, that they live to some purpose; which can never be said 
of those, how uncommon soever their abilities and attainments, 
who spend life in abstract speculation, and produce nothing of 
real use and service to their fellow-creatures. 

The soul-cheering expression, l have not lived in vain, was 
never more appropriately used than by Lord Grenville, when 
he brought the Slave-Trade Felony Bill into the House of Lords, 
May 7, 1811. His Lordship then observed, that it had been his 
good fortune to introduce that Act into the House, which was 
first passed for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade.£ He considered 
it, he said, as the most honourable act of his public life ; and 
might say at the close of that life— I have not lived in vain. —The 
last words which the immortal Nelson uttered were, “ Thank 
God ! I have done my duty.” Southey’s Life of Nelson. 

* See May 1, 1807. 


t See May 1 , 304. 


X See May li 1807, 




422 


OCTOBER. 


emblazoned as to inspire, if possible, all classes of society 
with a conviction of the excellence of virtue. Every op¬ 
portunity should be embraced for exhibiting Man as he 
can be, and Man as he ought to be. Fallen or degraded 
as is the state of man, some luminous spots now and then 
appear as glorious proofs of the possibility of mental 
cultivation, on which we ought to fix our regards; and 
if some instances convince us of the mean and vicious 
state to which human beings can be debased, let others 
instruct us to what an elevation of intellect and virtue 
they may be exalted. As a private Christian, and a 
preacher of that which he regarded as the light and truth 
of Divine inspiration, William Penn is a very impressive 
example; and when we ascend one step higher, and view 
him as a public character, as a statesman, and the head of 
a civil community, he merits the attention of the world, 
as demonstrating the practicability of Christian princi¬ 
ples in the government of states, and the superiority of a 
public conduct founded on justice and humanity over 
that which rests on political expediency or cunning. 

Penn suffered severe persecution, merely for preaching 
to a quiet society of Quakers* in Gracechurch Street. 
He was lodged in Newgate, and brought to trial at the 
Old Bailey, as a criminal of the worst description; and 
such was the treatment of the prisoner on his trial, and of 
the honest jury who acquitted him, that every English¬ 
man who peruses the detail will blush for his country, 
and thank God that it is delivered from the tyranny and 
lawless violence which then prevailed even in courts of 
law. 

When Penn obtained from Charles II. a grant of land 
in America, in lieu of a debt due by government to his 
father, the admiral, though he went to Pennsylvaniaf with 
the royal charter in his pocket, he did not regard himself 
as fully entitled to the land which this charter specified, 
without the concurrence of the aboriginal inhabitants. 
He therefore invited the Indians to a conference, which 


* See Fox, George, and Barclay, Index; and Geo. Exer. on 
the New Test. art. Friends. 

f Pennsylvania was thus named by Charles II., as a respect to 
Penn’s father, whom the king often mentioned with great praise. 
It was Penn’s wish to have had it called New Wales; and when 
this was opposed, he suggested Syivania, on account of its woods, 
but they would add Penn to it. Sylva is the Latin for wood. 



OCTOBER. 


423 


he and his followers attended unarmed, and made his 
celebrated treaty* with them ;—a treaty which all concur 
in considering’ as the most glorious of any in the annals 
of the world;—the only treaty, as Voltaire says, which 
was not ratified by an oath, and which was not violated. 
Indeed, a more complete effect was produced on these 
Indian tribes by the kind and beneficent treatment of 
Penn, than, either before or since, was ever obtained by 
force. Having settled his bargain and treaty of eternal 
friendship with the Indians, he fixed on the site and gave 
the plan of his new city, which was to be called Philadel¬ 
phia, the city of brothers. See Adelphi, Index. 

The exertions of Penn in his provincial kingship, place 
his character in the first class of statesmen ; and we 
lament, continue the Reviewers, the numerous obstruc¬ 
tions by which his wise and benevolent projects were 
counteracted. Good as he was at heart, he was destined 
to have his virtue and piety subjected to the proof by 
continual trials ; and, as he once pleasantly remarked, 
“ he had gone against wind and tide through the whole 
of his life.”f After a gradual decay both of body and 
mind, this venerable man expired at Ruscomb, near 
Reading, in Berkshire, July 1718, in the 74tli year of his 
age. 

14, 1758. Battle of Hochkirchen. This is a village 
near Bautzen, in Lusatia, and 45 miles N. E. of Dresden, 


* The late Alderman Boydell, in 1775, published a beautiful 
print of this Treaty, engraved by Hall from a painting by 
West. Its companion, The Death of General Wolfe, engraved 
by Woollett, was published the ensuing year. This great his¬ 
torical and landscape engraver was born at Maidstone, in Kent, 
1735, died in 1785, and was buried in Pancras churchyard, near 
London. 

f During some of his severest troubles he lost a wife to whom 
he was most tenderly attached. He has thus drawn her cha¬ 
racter : “ I hope 1 may say she was a public as well as a private 
loss; for she was not only an excellent wife and mother, but an 
entire and constant friend, of a more than common capacity, 
and greater modesty and humility ; yet most equal and undaunted 
in danger ; religious as well as ingenious, without affectation ; an 
easy mistress, and good neighbour, especially to the poor ; neither 
lavish nor penurious ; but an example of industry, as well as of 
other virtues : therefore our great loss, though her own eternal 
gain.” See Queen Mary, (Consort of King William,) and Rus¬ 
sell, Lady, Index. 



424 


OCTOBER. 


in Germany. Here the King- of Prussia was surprised in 
his camp and defeated by the Austrians, commanded by 
Count Daun; and that able General, Field-Marshal Keith, 
a Scotsman in the service of Prussia, was killed in the 
churchyard. Daun and Lacy, the Austrian Generals, 
shed tears on seeing the corpse, and ordered it to be in¬ 
terred with every possible mark of military honour. This 
victory procured for Daun the most honourable testimo¬ 
nies of gratitude and admiration. The city of Vienna 
erected a statue to him; Maria Theresa wrote to him in 
the most flattering terms; the Empress of Russia sent 
him a beautiful sabre; and Pope Clement XIII. presented 
him with a cap and a consecrated sword. 

14, 1806. A dreadful engagement took place near Jena,* 
between the French and the Prussians, which proved 
extremely disastrous to the latter. This is sometimes 
called the battle of Auerstadt, from an adjacent village. 
The Emperor Napoleon and the King of Prussia com¬ 
manded their respective forces. Both armies displayed 
the greatest bravery. 

15, 70 B. C. Virgil, the greatest of Latin poets, was born 
at Andes, a village near Mantua: hence he is often styled 
the “Mantuan Swain,” the “Bard of Mantua,” &c.f 
He was taken ill at Megara, a town between Corinth and 
Athens; died at Brundusium, and was interred near 
Naples.]; Discovering early marks of a fine genius, 
Virgil was sent at the age of twelve to study at Cremona, 
whence he removed to Milan, and afterwards to Naples. 


* Jena, which has been long famous for its University, is 
situated in Upper Saxony, Germany, and in the neighbourhood 
of Weimar, lat. 51 N., long. 12 E. 

•f See Exercises on the Globes , 11th edit. art. Cygnus. 

J Virgil’s tomb, says a late celebrated Tourist, ought to be 
. consecrated to genius and meditation. Few places are in them¬ 
selves more picturesque, and, from the recollection inseparably 
interwoven with it, no spot is more interesting. In truth, the 
hill or mountain of Pausilippo, on which the sepulchre stands, is 
beautiful in the extreme, and is justly honoured with its appel¬ 
lation, for no scene is better calculated to banish melancholy and 
exhilarate the mind. Pausilippo took its name from a villa of 
Vediu Pollio, erected in the time of Augustus, and called Pausi- 
lypum , from the effect which its beauty was supposed to produce 
in suspending sorrow and anxiety. See Eustace’s Classical 
Tour. 



OCTOBER. 


425 


Captivated with the beauty and sweetness of Theocritus,* * * § 
he introduced pastoral poetry among his countrymen and 
composed ten eclogues. In his 34th year, at the solicita¬ 
tion of Mecaenas,f he wrote his “ Georgies,” divided into 
four books. He is supposed to have begun the “HEneid” 
in his 45th year, which epic poem still remains in twelve 
books, though not with all the perfection which the author 
intended. This immortal work was written with the 
design of reconciling the Romans to monarchical govern¬ 
ment. Virgil died September the 22nd, in his 52nd year. 
The versions of and commentaries upon this author’s 
works are innumerable. Those into English by Ogilby, 
Dryden, Trapp, and Pitt, are well known ; but Warton’s 
edition in Latin and English is said to be preferable to all 
others, not only on account of the translation, but because 
the Latin text is correctly printed with it. 

15, 1791. Died, at the age of 52, near Yassy or Jassy, in 
Moldavia, Turkey in Europe, on his way to the town of 
Nicolai or Nicolaef, that illustrious favourite of fortune. 
Prince Potemkin, Field-Marshal of Russia. His funeral 
was performed with great pomp and magnificence at 
Jassy; but his body was afterwards conveyed to Cherson,J 
and inhumed in the principal church of that town.§ The 
Empress (Catharine II.) allotted 100,000 rubles for the 
erection of a mausoleum|| to his memory. Prince Potem¬ 
kin was one of the most extraordinary men of his time: 


* Theocritus was an ancient Greek pastoral poet, who flou¬ 
rished about 2C0 years B. C. 

Theocritus, whose polish’d sense 
Shines in simple eleganc?, 

While he paints in valleys green 
Joys that wait the rural scene. 

Review of Poetry, by Lady M. 

He was a native of Syracuse, in Sicily. The compositions of this 
admired poet are distinguished among the ancients by the name 
of “ Idylliums,” in order to express the smallness and variety 
of their natures; they would now be called “ Miscellanies, or 
Poems on several Occasions.” 

f See Index. 

J See Jan. 20, 1790. 

§ His body has since been thrown into a neighbouring ditch. 
See Bourn’s Gazetteer , 3d edit. 

tl See Arith. Quest, art. Mausolus. 



426 


OCTOBER. 


he was at one period the lover of the empress—at another 
he presented her with new favourites ; became her confi¬ 
dant, her friend, her general, and her minister. See 
March 31, 1783. 

16, 1555. The renowned martyrs, Ridley, Bishop of 
London, and Latimer, formerly Bishop of Worcester, * 
were burnt at Oxford. (See Arith. Quest.) Ridleyt was 
born in 1500, at Wilmontswick, Tvnedale, in Northum¬ 
berland; and Latimer in 1470, at Thurcaston, a sequester, 
ed village a little north-east of Leicester. His portrait is 
still preserved in the rectorial house. 

— 1586. Death of Sidney. Sir Philip Sidney, who had 
been wounded at the battle of Zutphen, died at Arnheim, 
N. of Nimeguen, in the United Provinces. This amiable 
young man had been equally the delight of Elizabeth’s 
court and army, as his person and endowments were only 
equalled by his valour and humanity. After his thigh¬ 
bone had been broken by a musket-shot, in the agony of 
his wound he called for water. Some was brought to 
him, but, as he was lifting it to his lips, the ghastly looks 


* Latimer resigned his bishopric in 1539, on the passing of the 
“ Bloody Act,” and retired to his friend Cramner’s dwelling. On 
the accession of Edward VI. he was not restored to the bishop¬ 
ric, but was appointed preacher to the court. In this situation 
he acquitted himself with incredible intrepidity, sparing neither 
the profligate minister, the partial judge, the indolent priest, nor 
even the misguided infant king. A remarkable instance is re¬ 
corded of his boldness when he was bishop of Worcester. Instead 
of the usual new-year’s gift of gold, &c., he presented Henry 
VIII. with a New Testament, enclosed in a napkin, and the 13th 
chap, and 4th verse of thd* Hebrews referred to, “Whoremongers 
and adulterers God will judge.” 

t A sermon preached by Bishop Ridley before the king at 
Westminster, in which he enforced the claims of the poor and 
ignorant on the wealthy and enlightened, had the enviable feli¬ 
city of being followed by the noblest of practical comments. The 
result of the discourse was, the erection of St. Thomas, St. Bar¬ 
tholomew, Bridewell, and Christ’s Hospitals. This last great 
establishment, which, from a reference to the costume of the 
children, is generally known by the name of the Blue-Coat School, 
owes its foundation to the piety, virtue, and love of knowledge 
which graced that ornament of the British throne, “ the good 
young king” Edward VI. There are generally from 1000 to 
1200 boys and girls receiving their education, besides being 
clothed and boarded, in this princely institution.— Leigh’s Pic¬ 
ture of London. 



OCTOBER. 


427 


of a dying- soldier struck his eye. “ Take this,” said he, 
holding the water to him ; “ thy necessity is yet greater 
than ?nine.” He died with the resignation of a saint;* 
and so general was the grief for his loss, that it was looked 
upon “as a sin” to appear in gay clothes for several 
months after. Elizabeth lamented his death, and James 
of Scotland, it is said, wrote an epitaph for him. Pen¬ 
nant, however, asserts, that his remains were interred in 
St. Paul’s Cathedral with great funeral pomp, but without 
either monument or inscription. As a writer, Sidney 
appears rather a man of great literature than of bright 
genius. His “ Arcadia,” so highly admired in its age, is 
now little esteemed. He was born at Penshurst, in Kent, 
Nov. 29, 1554. See Excr. on the Globes, art. Robur 
Caroli. 

16, 1608. Was born at Faenza, in Italy, Torricelli, the 
inventor of the Barometer, an instrument for measuring: 
the weight or pressure of the atmosphere; and, by the 
ascent or descent of mercury in a glass tube, the varia¬ 
tions in the state of the air, foretelling the changes in the 
weather, and measuring heights or depths, &c., &c.f 

Thus up exhausted tubes bright currents flow, 

Of liquid silver from the lake below ; 

Weigh the long column of incumbent skies, 

And with the changeful moment fall or rise. 


* Courage separated from piety is not courage, but madness. 
A complete hero has not only that patriotism, and that imperious 
sense of duty, before which danger vanishes, but that reverential 
fear of God which excludes from the heart every other fear};— 
that testimony of a good conscience which strips death of his 
terrors§—that faith which looks to a brighter recompense than 
sovereigns can bestow. Such a warrior might fall, but he would 
fall in glory ; and were the drops of heaven the ouly tears that 
bedewed his unburied head, his immortal spirit is safe with his 
Redeemer in Paradise.|| Dr. Brichan’s 8th Sermon. 

The man immortal, rationally brave, 

Dares rush on death—because he cannot die. 

Young. 

f See Butler’s Exer. on the Globes , 11th edit. p. 334. 


t See Arith. Quest, art. Turenne. 

$ The motto of Arminius is remarkable: “ A good conscience is a 
paradise." See Arminius, Index. 

y See Cornelias, Duncan, and Gardiner, Index. 





428 


OCTOBER. 


16, 1651. Charles II., after being exposed to most im¬ 
minent perils in consequence of his defeat at Worcester, 
arrived safely at Fecamp, in the department of Lower 
Seine, province of Normandy, France. He sailed from 
Brighthelmstone the preceding day, having slept at the 
George Inn, in West Street, the house now bearing the 
name of King Charles’s Head. See Exer. on the Globes, 
art. Robur Caroli. 

*— 1767- Died, at Riga, in Russia, aged 84, Count 
Munich, the favourite of the Czarina Ann ; and he was 
concerned in all the events of her reign. Being appointed 
general of her armies, he gained great advantages over 
the Crim Tartars, defeated the Turks in 1739, in an en¬ 
gagement near Choczim, and took that city, together with 
Jassy, the capital of Moldavia. He was afterwards prime 
minister; but being accused of employing his power to 
gratify his ambition and private resentment, on Eliza¬ 
beth’s being raised to the throne, he was, in 1742, con¬ 
demned to lose his life. This sentence, however, was 
mitigated to banishment into Siberia,f whither many of 
the victims of his authority had been exiled. He was 
recalled by Peter III. in 1762, and declared field-marshal. 
Upon the death of this prince,J the Empress Catharine 
II. appointed him director-general of the Russian ports in 
the Baltic. Munich was born near Oldenburg, in West¬ 
phalia, Germany, and served under the Duke of Marl¬ 
borough and Prince Eugene. (See Oldenburg, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer.') Twenty years passed in the frightful wastes 
of Siberia, did not depress his firm and generous soul; — 
at the head of armies—condemned to death—in frozen 
deserts, Munich was every where the same: he ever pre¬ 
served that unalterable serenity, that energy of character, 
which falls to the lot of so few. 

— 1774. Died Robert Ferguson, a very ingenious, 
though unfortunate Scottish poet, born at Edinburgh in 
1750. His social qualifications were so fascinating, that 


* Tooke’s Life of Catharine. The Ency. Brit, states his death 
as having happened on the 8th of October. 

+ Siberia is a large country, comprehending the most northern 
part of the Russian empire in Asia. Tobolsk is the principal 
town, where the viceroy resides; and to the northern part of 
Siberia are usually consigned such of the Russian state criminals 
as are sent into banishment. See Nov. 2, 1729. 

X See March 31, 1783, and July 9 and 17, 1762. 



++ 


OCTOBER. 


429 


they led him into a course of dissipation and imprudence, 
which is too often the ruin of men of genius. Burns (his 
brother poet and enthusiastic admirer) erected a neat 
monument to his memory in the Cannongate church¬ 
yard. 

16, 1784. Mr. Blanchard, accompanied by Mr. Shel¬ 
don, Professor of Anatomy to the Royal Academy, (the 
first Englishman who made an aerial excursion,) ascended 
at Chelsea in a balloon. 

— 1/93. Decollation op the Queen of France. 
This unhappy princess might have said, in the language 
of Shakspeare, 

I was born high,* 

Our airyt buildeth on the cedar’s top, 

And dallies with the wind, and scorns the sun; 

for she was daughter of an Empress, the sister of Empe¬ 
rors, and the wife of a King long considered as the most 
powerful in Europe. She was not only a Queen, but a 
woman whose consummate beauty “taught the torches to 
burn brightshe was therefore not only accustomed to 
the interested and ostentatious submission that attends 
power, but that more pleasing attention and obedience 
which are ever paid to beauty. Fortune accompanied her 
friendship, and happiness her smiles. She found her 
wishes anticipated, and saw her looks obeyed. The sud¬ 
den fall of the king}; and herself from “ the full meridian 


* Verily, ’tis better to be lowly born, 

And range with humble livers in content. 

Shakspeare. 


Often shall we find 
The sharded beetle in a safer hold, 

Than is the full-winged eagle. 

Shakspeare’s Aphorisms. 


f Airy, or Aery, among sportsmen, is a term expressing the 
nest of a hawk or eagle. 

There the eagle and the stork 
On cliffs and cedar-tops their eyries build.§ 

Milton. 


See January 21, 1793. 


$ See Job xxxix. 27, 28, and Exer . on the Globes , 11th edit. art. 
Aquila. 




430 


OCTOBER. 


of their glory,” is, perhaps, one of the most memorable 
instances on record of the instability of human grandeur; 
awfully verifying the reflection of the poet, that 

“ The mightiest monarchs of the peopled earth 
Are still the subjects of capricious fortune ; 

And, when she frowns, the height on which they sit 
Makes but their fall more dreadful and conspicuous.” 

The Queen was in the thirty-ninth year of her age. 
Clery’s “Journal of Occurrences in the Temple,” dis¬ 
closes circumstances of wanton severity and cruel insult 
towards the much-injured monarch of France and his 
family, which cannot be read without abhorrence and 
indignation. 

16, 1793. Died, in London, John Hunter, generally 
deemed one of the first anatomical surgeons in the world, 
both in theory and practice. He was born in 1725, at 
Long (Jalderwood, in Lanarkshire, Scotland. 

Dr. William Hunter, brother to the above, who died 
in London, in 1783, was a celebrated physician and ana¬ 
tomist. His Anatomical Museum was the most complete 
of all the private ones in Europe, and cost him upwards 
of ^20,000 in collecting. 

17, 1346. Was fought the battle of Nevill’s-Cross, near 
Durham, in which fifteen or twenty thousand Scots were 
slain, and their king, David Bruce, taken prisoner. He 
remained eleven years prisoner in England. See Miscell. 
Quest. 3d edit., and Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Poitiers. 

— 1777. Burgoyne’s Surrender. General Burgoyne 
surrendered himself, and the British army under his com¬ 
mand, to General Gates, the American commander, at 
Saratoga, on Hudson’s River, in about lat. 43 N. and 
long. 73 W. General Burgoyne was an elegant writer, 
and author of four dramatic pieces, viz. The Maid of the 
Oaks,* The Lord of the Manor, The Heiress, and Richard 
Coeur de Lion. He died August 4, 1792, and was in¬ 
terred in Westminster Abbey. 

18, St. Luke’s Festival. St. Luke, called also Lucas, 
Lucius, or Lucanus, was a Syrian, a native of Antioch, 
by profession a physician, and for the most part a com- 


* The Oaks, on Banstead Downs, Surrey, is an elegant seat 
belonging to the Earl of Derby, who purchased it of his son-in- 
law, General Burgoyne. There was a fete champetre here in 
1774, which gave rise to Burgoyne’s musical entertainment of 
“ The Maid of the Oaks.” 




OCTOBER. 


431 


panion of St. Paul. From his attending this apostle in 
his travels, and from the testimony of some of the an¬ 
cients, many have been induced to conclude that this 
evangelist was a Jew; and several learned men, both 
among the ancients and moderns, have been of opinion 
that he was one of the seventy. The first time that he 
is mentioned in the New Testament is in his own history 
of the Acts, or Actions of the Apostles.* * * § We find him 
with St. Paul at Troas. He attended this apostle to 
Jerusalem, continued with him during his troubles in 
Judea, sailed in the same ship with him when he was sent 
prisoner from Csesarea to Rome, and stayed with him in 
the imperial city during his two years’ confinement there. 
In St. Paul’s epistles written during his imprisonment, he 
is mentioned by name, and, in one of those letters, styled 
the beloved physician. The ancients have not mentioned 
his suffering martydom; it is probable, therefore, says Dr. 
Harwood, that he died a natural death. Some suppose 
that this event took place in the 84th year of his age, 
about A. D. 70, at Patras. (Bourn’s Gazetteer.) His 
History of the Acts was published in the regions of Achaia 
and Boeotia, about the year 63, which was also the date of 
his Gospel, according to Dr. Lardner, who has examined 
these subjects with great accuracy and critical judgment. 
It may be proper to add, that although St. Luke was not 
actually an apostle, yet he was the inseparable companion 
of the apostle Paul, and committed to writing the gospel 
preached by him. Being himself a scholar, his writings, 
as Grotius and Dr. Harwood remark, abound with expres¬ 
sions that are of classical purity, and which remind the 
learned reader of Xenophon, f on whom the Athenians 
said that the nine Parnassian sisters]; had shed their 
choicest influence, and whose language all the Graces § 
had combined to form and embellish. 


* Dr. Doddridge says, that when Luke first mentions himself 
in his own history, it is very remarkable that he does it only in 
an oblique manner ; nor does he, indeed, throughout the whole 
history, once mention his own name, or relate any one thing 
which he said or did for the service of Christianity: though Paul 
speaks of him in the most honourable terms, Col. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. 
iv. 11; and probably 2 Cor. viii. 18- See also Philemon 23, 24. 

f See Arith. Quest. 

X See Exer. on the Globes, art. Muses. 

§ See Arith. Quest. 




432 


OCTOBER. 


18, 1529. Henry VIII., being determined on the ruin of 
his ancient favourite and haughty minister. Cardinal 
Wolsey, sent the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk to require 
the great seal from him, which was delivered by the king 
to Sir Thomas More, a man who united with the orna¬ 
ments of elegant literature, the highest virtue and capacity. 
In less than six years the vindictive monarch, unable to 
attain, either by bribes or menaces, this conscientious 
man’s approbation of his marriage with Anne Boleyn, 
determined to destroy him. (See May 19, 1536.) He 
was first attainted for misprison of treason in the case of 
the Maid of Kent,* and when this accusation w r as unsuc¬ 
cessful, he was enjoined to take the oath of supremacy, 
and on his refusal was committed to the Tower for fifteen 
months, and then brought to trial and sentenced to suffer 
death. 

-A steady INI ore, 

Who with a generous though mistaken zeal, 

Withstood a brutal tyrant’s useful rage. 

Like Cato firm, like Aristides just, 

Like rigid Cincinuatus nobly poor, 

A dauntless soul erect, who smil’d on death. 

Thomson. 

See July 6, 1535, and October 29, 1618, note. 

— 1564. Captain, afterwards Sir John Hawkins, the 
first Englishman that gave countenance to the Slave 
Trade, sailed from Plymouth (his native place) for Cape 
Verd, on the coast of Africa; being the first ostensible 
voyage in that most iniquitous commerce. The Negroes 
were sold to the Spaniards in Hispaniola,f in the West 
Indies. “ Here,” says Hill, in his Naval History, “ began 
the horrid practice of forcing the Africans into slavery; 
an injustice and barbarity which, so sure as there is 
vengeance in heaven for the worst of crimes, will some 
time be the destruction of all who encourage it.” To 
avert this justly-to-be-apprehended judgment, that en¬ 
lightened patriot Mr. Fox, on the 10th of June, 1806, 
with a steady adherence to those principles which he 
always avowed, had the glory to carry a resolution in the 
House of Commons, which went to the entire abolition of 
this nefarious trade, so long the opprobrium of Christians 


* See Adlington, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 
t See April 19, 1804. 




OCTOBER. 


433 


in general, and of Englishmen in particular. In the 
course of the debate, the Solicitor-General stated from 
authentic documents then before the House, that since 
the year 1792, upwards of 3,500,000* of the natives of 
Africa had been torn from their country by Europeans, 
and had either miserably perished on the passage, or had 
been sold in the IVest Indies ! 

18, 1663. Prince Eugene, the distinguished Imperial 
commander, was born at Paris. He quitted France in 
disgust, and entered into the service of Leopold, Emperor 
of Germany, for whom, in 1697, he gained the battle of 
Zenta. He lived under two succeeding emperors, 
Joseph I. and Charles VI., for whom he performed signal 
services.f Of these emperors he used to say, that the 
first had been his Father , because he had promoted his 
fortune, as he would have done his own son’s—the 
second his Brother , because he had loved him as a bro¬ 
ther—and the third his Master , because he had recom¬ 
pensed him like a king. Eugene admired and protected 
literature and the arts. 

— 1813. Battle of Leipsic. On this day was fought 
the ever-memorable battle of Leipsic, between the French 
under Bonaparte, and the allied armies of Russia, Aus¬ 
tria and Prussia. The strength of Napoleon was esti¬ 
mated at 180,000 men, that of the allies was not very 
short of 300,000 men, reinforced by patriotic Germans, 
who, forming themselves into societies, rose en masse 
to achieve the deliverance of the country. After a long 
and awful contest, during which Bonaparte narrowly 
escaped being taken prisoner, the Gallic army sustained 
a signal and dreadful defeat; they lost upwards of 80,000 
men, including prisoners, 150 pieces of cannon, and an 
immense quantity of baggage. The surrender of Leipsic, 
which was entered by the Emperor of Russia, the king of 
Prussia, and Bernadotte, now king of Sweden, by three 
different gates, and of all the French fortresses in Ger¬ 
many, and the final expulsion of Napoleon from that 
country, were the glorious fruits of the victory achieved 
by the allies. 

19, 1216. King John, in the midst of troubles which his 


* That is, on an average, 250,000 annually. Mr. Pitt some 
years ago stated the number of wretched beings thus stolen or 
kidnapped yearly, at 80,000 only. See Exer. on the Globes , art. 
Apis, and Arith. Quest, art. Sugar; also April 19, 1804. 
f See Eugene, index; also Bourn's Gazetteer , Index. 

u 



434 


OCTOBER. 


own folly and baseness had excited, died at Newark, in 
Nottinghamshire, in the 49th year of Ids age, and the 
18th of his reign. He was buried at Worcester; and a 
stone coffin containing his body was discovered in the 
cathedral church of that city in 1779. John was an un¬ 
natural son, an unkind brother, a cruel uncle, a jealous 
and inconstant husband; dissembling, cowardly, and 
cruel; without faith, honour or honesty; paying no re¬ 
gard to law, justice, or mercy. No virtue whatever, not 
a single good action, ever atoned for the uninterrupted 
series of crimes of all sorts which stained the life of this 
infamous prince, whose character was a monstrous com¬ 
pound of all kinds of vice. Yet, perhaps, it was the com¬ 
bination of such evil qualities that urged the people to 
insist upon an enlargement of their liberties, which they 
would not have solicited from a better, nor have extorted 
from an abler prince. See Index, and Magna Charta, Arith. 
Quest. 10th edition, and Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist. ,* 
also Bourn’s Gazetteer, Newark and Runnymead. 

19, 1609. Died, at Leyden, in Holland, James Armi- 
nius, a famous Protestant divine, from whom the religi¬ 
ous sect of Arminians take their name. He was born 
in 1560, at Oudewater, in Holland, and is said to have 
attracted, through life, the esteem and applause even of 
enemies by his acknowledged candour, penetration, and 
piety. 

The disputes between the Arminians and Calvinists, 
concerning free-will, predestination, &c., became so vio¬ 
lent soon after the death of Arminius, as to threaten the 
United Provinces with civil discord. The Calvinists ap¬ 
pealed to a general synod, which was accordingly con¬ 
vened at Dort, or Dordrecht,* in 1618; when the Armi¬ 
nians, being excluded from the assembly, and, of course, 
not allowed to defend their opinions, were pronounced 
guilty of pestilential errors, and condemned as corrupters 
of the true faith. In consequence of this harsh decision, 
they were treated with great severity; being deprived of 
all their posts and employments, their ministers were 
banished or silenced, and their congregations suppressed ; 
but in 1625, the Arminian exiles were restored to their 
former reputation and tranquillity; and, under the tolera¬ 
tion of the state, they erected churches and founded a 
college at Amsterdam; appointing the celebrated Epis- 


* See Arith, Quest, art. Inundation, and Bourn’s Gazetteer, 
art. Dort. 



OCTOBER. 


435 


copius, a man of uncommon talents and learning, to be 
the first theological professor. He was born at Amster¬ 
dam in 1583, and died in 1643. See the Ency. Brit. art. 
Arminians; and Geo. Exer. on the New Test. art. Armi- 
nianism and Calvinism. 

19, 1680. Was born at Coleraine, in the north of Ireland, 
John Abernethy, an eminent Dissenting minister. 
He preached for nearly twenty years at Antrim, but 
afterwards at Dublin. He died in 1740. His Sermons, 
particularly those on the “ Divine Attributes,” have been 
greatly admired. 

— 1723. Died Sir Godfrey Kneller, an eminent 
painter, who had the remarkable honour of drawing ten 
crowned heads,—four kings of England, and three queens, 
Peter the Great, Charles III. of Spain, when he was in 
England, and Louis XIV. 

Thou, Kneller, long, with noble pride, 

The foremost of thy art, hast vied 
With Nature in a generous strife, 

And touch’d the canvas into life. 

Thy pencil has, by monarchs sough't. 

From reign to reign in ermine wrought, 

And, in the robes of state array'd. 

The kings of half an age display’d. Addison. 

Kneller was a native of Lubeck, in Holstein, in the 
north of Germany, where he was born in 1648. He 
was created a Baronet by George I. Pope’s concluding 
couplet of his epitaph upon Sir Godfrey Kneller,— 

Living, great Nature fear’d he might outvie 
Her works ; and dying, fears herself may die,— 

was much admired as a comprehensive encomium, how¬ 
ever its propriety might be questioned:* but it was ob¬ 
served, that the thought was stolen from Cardinal Bem- 
bo’s celebrated Latin distich on Raphael: 

Raphael, timuit, quo sospite,. vinci. 

Rerum magna parens, et morieute, mori. 

Pope’s lines are, indeed, nothing more than a tranlation 
of the preceding, which were much better versified by 
Mr. Harrison, a friend of Swift: 

Here Raphael lies, by whose untimely end,f 
Nature hath lost a rival and a friend. 


* See Pope’s epitaph designed for Sir Isaac Newton, p. 96. 
f Raphael died in his 37th year. See page 63 note. 

u 2 



436 OCTOBER. 

Sir Godfrey Kneller was interred at Twickenham, near 
Richmond. 

19, 1769. A dreadful eruption of Mount Vesuvius took 
place. It is very probable that Mount Vesuvius, near 
Naples, and Mount iEtna, in Sicily, form but different 
portions of one chain of mountains that passes under the 
sea and the isle of Lipari; for whenever one of these 
volcanoes has had a great eruption, it was observed that 
the other, and the volcano in the isle of Lipari, threw 
out more flames than ordinary. This remark was made 
by Huet.* 

— *1781. Surrender of Cornwallis. Lord Corn¬ 
wallis and his army surrendered themselves prisoners of 
war to General Washington, at York Town, in \ ir- 
ginia.f This event terminated the contest between Bri¬ 
tain and the American colonies. 

— 1806. Died, at Cambridge, Henry Kirke White, 
who, in the course of twenty-one years, (the span of his 
brief but illustrious career,) by indefatigable persever- 


* Peter Daniel Huet was bishop of Avranches, in France, and 
a celebrated philosophical, historical, and commercial writer. He 
was born in 1630, and died in 1721. 

f Lord Cornwallis was, however, well received on his return 
to England, and, a few years after, was nominated to the impor¬ 
tant situation of Governor-General of Bengal. In 1792, he 
obliged Tippoo Sultaun to cede half his dominions to the English 
and their Allies.}; On his return home he was made a Marquis ; 
and in 1798, a period of general alarm, he was invested with the 
vice-regal powers of Ireland, amidst the acclamations of both 
kingdoms. His administration was successful. He gained the 
hearts while he disarmed the hands of the insurgents, and cap¬ 
tured an invading enemy. In 1801, his Lordship resigned his 
high office, and afterwards negociated the Definitive Treaty of 
Peace at Amiens.§ In 1805, he repaired to India a second time, 
as Governor-General, &c., but his constitution had by this time 
been greatly undermined by bodily disease and mental exertions ; 
and nature, at length, became so completely exhausted, that 
he had scarcely exhibited the olive-branch of peace, and begun 
to sway the sceptre of justice in that vast continent, before he 
sunk under the weight of his patriotic labour and anxiety; 
lamented by us at home, and mourned with tears of anguish bv 
our unhappy fellow-subjects of various nations and religious in 
the eastern world. This melancholy event took place on Satur- 


t See May 4, 1790. 


$ See March 27, 1802. 





OCTOBER. 


437 


ance in study, unquenchable ardour of genius, and sin¬ 
cere piety, distinguished himself as a scholar, a poet, 
and a Christian; whose reliques will long continue to 
excite public interest, and whose story, though mourn¬ 
ful, will nevertheless be held in remembrance, as a cheer¬ 
ing example to youthful genius, when struggling with 
poverty or assailed by temptation. 

In addition to the exhausting labours of an attorney’s 
clerk, this extraordinary youth employed his leisure 
hours in acquiring a knowledge of the Greek, Latin, 
French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese languages; in 
each of which he made considerable progress. Che¬ 
mistry, astronomy, and electricity, were also numbered 
among his amusements. If time be computed by its 
occupation, he made a minute of every moment of his 
leisure, and every day added sensibly to his stock of 
knowledge.* He had also a turn for mechanics, and 
most of the furniture of his little study was the work¬ 
manship of his own hands; but his most delightful re¬ 
laxation was the exercise of his powers of composition, 
both in prose and verse; and his works exhibit evidence 
of superior talent and great moral worth. 

When, by the kindness of friends, Mr. White was 
placed at college, he continued his studies with such 
intense application, that in his first term he was pro¬ 
nounced the first man of his year. Never, perhaps, had 
any young man, in so short a time, excited such ex¬ 
pectations; every university honour was thought to be 
within his reach; he was set down as a medallist, and 
expected to take a senior wrangler’s degree; but these 
expectations were poison to him ; they goaded him to 
fresh exertions, by which his physical and mental strength 
was exhausted, and by which he was prematurely brought 
to the grave! 

The moral qualities of Henry Kirke White, his good 
sense and feeling, were as admirable as his industry and 


day, the 5th of October, 1805, in the 67th year of his age, at 
Gliazepoor, in the province of Benares. He was buried with 
great pomp, a general mourning was adopted, and a mausoleum 
has been erected over the place of his interment at Ghazepoor on 
the Ganges, N. E. of Benares. An interesting monument, by 
Rossi, has been also erected to his memory at the public expense 
in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

* See Ever, on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Apelles, 




438 


OCTOBER. 


genius. He was amiable in all the relations of life. Of 
his fervent piety, his letters, prayers, and hymns, afford 
interesting proofs. Religion was in him a living prin¬ 
ciple of goodness, which sanctified all his hopes and 
affections, which made him keep watch over his heart, 
and enabled him to correct the few symptoms which it 
ever displayed of human imperfection.* * * § This interesting 
character was a native of Nottingham .f His father was 
a butcher,;]; and his mother kept a boarding-school for 
young ladies. He was interred at Cambridge, and a 
monument has been erected to his memory at the ex¬ 
pense of an American gentleman, Mr. Francis Boot, of 
Boston. See Exer. on the Globes, art. White. 

20, 480 B. C. Battle of Salamis. On this day The- 
mistocles, with only 380 sail, dispersed, and in a great 
measure destroyed, the fleet of Xerxes, when that cele¬ 
brated marauder invaded Greece.§ Salamis, or Salamin, 
was an island situated adjacent to Athens ; it is now 
called Coluri. Themistocles was born at Acharna, near 
Athens, and died in the 65th year of his age, about 449 
years B. C., at Magnesia, on the river Meander, about 
fifteen miles from Ephesus, in Asia Minor. 

— 1422. Expired at Paris, aged 54, Charles VI., after 
a reign of forty-two years. About the twenty-fifth year 
of his age, he was seized with a derangement of intellect, 
which continued, through a series of recoveries and re¬ 
lapses, to his death. He passed thirty years in a pitiable 
state of suffering, neglected by his family, particularly 
by the most infamous of women, Isabel of Bavaria, his 
queen, to a degree which is hardly credible. 

— 1687- Lima, the capital of Peru, in South America, 
was destroyed by a most dreadful earthquake: an event 
which was annually noticed in that city after it was 
rebuilt, until it met with a similar catastrophe in 1746. 
See the 28th of this month. 


* See Smith, Elizabeth, Index. 

+ See Kippis and Wakefield, Index; and Nottingham, in 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

X Dr. Moore, archbishop of Canterbury, was the son of a 
butcher, as were likewise Cardinal Wolsey aud Akenside the 
poet. See Gloucester, Ispwich, and Newcastle, Bourn's Gaz ., 
and Index. 

§ See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Battle of Thermopylae, and 
Sept. 22, 479 B. C. 





OCTOBER. 


439 


20,1714. George I. was crowned at Westminster. He 
was the son of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Hanover, and 
Elector of Brunswick,* and of the Princess Sophia. The 
princess was the surviving child of Frederic V., Elector 
Palatine, and of the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James 
I., king of England. From Elizabeth, George derived 
his title, by desccnt y to these kingdoms. On the abdica¬ 
tion of James II., his two daughters, Mary and Anne, 
successively held the British sceptre; but, they dying 
without issue, it devolved on George I., an Act of Parlia¬ 
ment in 1701 having settled the regal dignity, in failure 
of such issue, on the Princess Sophia, his mother, who 
died in 1714, a few weeks before the death of Queen 
Anne. (See Herenhausen, Bourn’s Gazetteer.') The 
family of Brunswick is, therefore, descended on the ma¬ 
ternal side from the Stuart line. It wears the British 
crown, however, not in right of lineal descent, but in con¬ 
sequence of a solemn compact between that house and 
the nation, from whom the crown was a gift, with the 
sacred agreement that the monarch should respect the 
rights and liberties of the subject. The British throne, 
therefore, rests on the surest, because the only really legi¬ 
timate foundation,—the choice and consent of the people. 

— 1740. Expired at Vienna, aged 55, Charles VI., em¬ 
peror of Germany. He was the 16th and last prince of 
the ancient and illustrious House of Austria, and was suc¬ 
ceeded in his hereditary dominions by his eldest daughter, 
Maria Theresa, married to Francis I., grand duke of Tus¬ 
cany. Charles was proclaimed, at Vienna, king of Spain, 
in 1703, soon after the death of Charles II.,f under the 
title of Charles III., but relinquished his right to the 
throne of Spain in favour of Philip V., on the death of his 
brother Joseph I., in 1711, whom he succeeded as em¬ 
peror. 

— 1805. Ulm, a strong town on the Danube, Swabia, 


* The dukedom of Brunswick and Hanover was raised, in 1692, 
to the electoral dignity, in the person of Ernest Augustus, and it 
was raised, in 1814, from an electorate to a kingdom , in the per¬ 
son of our late sovereign George III. His present Majesty is, 
therefore, King of Hanover; and he deputes a viceroy as his “ 
representative. The person who now fills that high office is his 
Majesty’s youngest brother, his Royal Highuess the Duke of Cam¬ 
bridge. 

f See Nov. 1, 1700 ; also Bourn’s Gazetteer , Escurial, note, 
and Versailles, note. 



440 


OCTOBER. 


Germany, was surrendered with 30,000 men almost un¬ 
conditionally to Bonaparte, by general Mack, the Austrian 
commander. This conquest, so beneficial for France, was 
counterbalanced by the naval victory obtained by the En¬ 
glish ; for the same sun which shone on the French eagles 
at the Danube, displayed the humiliation of the standards 
of France off Cape Trafalgar. 

2k, 1687- Expired, at Beaconsfield,* Edmund Waller, 
an eminent poet and political writer; but memorable 
chiefly, at present, for his address in improving and refin¬ 
ing the English tongue. He was the nephew of the great 
Hampden,f and his conduct in the early part of his poli¬ 
tical career appears to have been formed on his uncle’s 
principles, though he afterwards changed his opinion. 
During the Protectorate he wrote a panegyric on Crom¬ 
well, and at the Restoration employed “ his imagination, 
his elegance, and his melody, with equal alacrity for 
Charles II.”—“ He that has flattery,” says Dr. Johnson, 
“ ready for all whom the vicissitudes of the world happen 
to exalt, must be scorned as a prostituted mind, that may 
retain the glitter of wit, but has lost the dignity of virtue.” 
He was born at Coleshill, Herts, in a part of the country 
which is insulated by Bucks, not far from Beaconsfield. 
In the churchyard of this last town there is a handsome 
monument of white marble erected to his memory. 

— 1771. Expired, near Leghorn, in Italy, Dr. Tobias 
Smollett, a physician, but chiefly noted as an historian 
and novel writer. His most considerable work is an “ His¬ 
tory of England.” His novels afford very just represen¬ 
tations of life. He was born on the banks of the river 
Leven, (which he celebrated in a heautiful ode,) in Dum¬ 
bartonshire, Scotland, in 1720. An elegant monument is 
erected to him near his birth-place, by his cousin, James 
Smollett, Esq. He has also a tomb in a most romantic 
spot on the banks of the Arno, between Leghorn and 
Pisa, erected by his widow, to which Dr. Armstrong, 
his constant and faithful friend, supplied a spirited in¬ 
scription. It is covered with laurel, which grows wild in 
all parts of Tuscany; and the homage of friends has 
planted manv a slip on the tomb of departed genius. See 
April 8, 1341. 

— 1777. Died, after a few hours’ illness, at the Ship Inn, 
Dover, that celebrated son of wit and whim, Samuel 


I 


* See July 8, 1797. 


f See June 18 and 24, 1643. 



OCTOBER. 


441 


•Foote, author of above twenty comedies and farces. 
His merit as a wit and a dramatist has gained him the 
appellation of “ The English Aristophanes.” He was re¬ 
markably pleasant in company, and generally took the 
lead in conversation, and was frequently the only per¬ 
former. But he was one of those wretches who could be 
civil to your face, and then, as payment for his civility, 
made you an object of ridicule the moment you left his 
company. Let young persons who may possess captiva¬ 
ting and brilliant talents for convivial society, remember, 
that wit, humour, mimicry, and buffoonery, are only the 
sport of social hours, and lead inperceptibly to that thought¬ 
less extravagance and dissipation which will assuredly ruin 
their morals and fortunes, and divert them from the paths 
of virtue and religion. 

Too late the froward youth shall find 

That jokes are oft-times paid in kind; 

Or if they canker in the breast, 

He makes a foe that makes a jest. 

Foote was born in 1721, at Truro, in Cornwall, and was 
interred in Westminster Abbey. 

21, 1805. Battle of Trafalgar, between the English 
and the combined fleets of France and Spain.* In this 
dreadful engagement, which lasted four hours, twenty 
sail of the enemy were sunk or destroyed, and the French 
commander-in-chief (Admiral Villeneuve) and two Span¬ 
ish admirals were made prisoners.f The British force 
consisted of twenty-seven, and that of the enemy of thirty- 
three sail of the line (eighteen French and fifteen Spanish). 
The gallant Nelson was wounded about the middle of 
the action, and died nearly at its close. Thus terminated 
the brilliant career of our peerless Naval Hero, who 
was, beyond dispute, pre-eminent in courage, in a depart¬ 
ment of the British service where all our countrymen are 
proverbially courageous: who, to unrivalled courage, uni¬ 
ted skill, equally conspicuous and extraordinary; and 
whose name was a tower of strength to England, and a 
terror to her foes. Cape Trafalgar is situated in Anda¬ 
lusia, Spain, between Cadiz and the Straits of Gibraltar. 


* It is a little singular, that this and the celebrated battle of 
Salamis (see October 20, 480 B. C.) should have occurred in the 
same month, and on the same day but one of that month, at the 
distance of 2285 years ! 

t Villeneuve soon after the battle killed himself at Rennes. 

u 3 



442 


OCTOBER. 


Her e gallant Nelson, fame and death in view, 

To wonted victory led his ardent crew; 

In England’s name enforced, with loftiest tone,* * * § 

Their duty,—and too well fulfilled his own. 

Mrs. Barbauld’s Eighteen Hundred and Eleven. 

His body was brought to England on board the Victory 
man of war, which arrived at Portsmouth on the 4th of 
December, whence it was conveyed to Greenwich, where 
it lay in state in the painted Hall on the 5th, 6th, and 7th 
of January. On the 8th it was removed to the Admiralty, 
and was interred in St. Paul’s, with unexampled ceremony 
and splendour, on the 9th. His remains occupy a very 
beautiful sarcophagus, exactly under the centre of the 
dome, which was executed at Rome, by Wolsey’s order, 
but did not arrive in time to be used for the cardinal, and 
had lain neglected during all the intervening period. See 
Nelson, Index, and Trafalgar, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

22, Is, in the Latin martyrologies, the feast of Salome, 
the wife of Zebedee, an(l mother of James Majorf and 
John the Evangelist and one of those holy women who 
used always to attend upon our Saviour in his journeys, 
and minister unto him.§ She followed him to Calvary, 
and did not forsake him, even at the cross. || She was 
also one of those pious females who brought perfumes to 


* “ England expects every man to do his duty,” was the tele¬ 
graphic despatch conveyed from him to the fleet, previous to the 
engagement. 

Four of the important victories obtained by the freemen of 
Britain over the slaves of despots, have been admirably noticed 
by Martin Archer Shee, Esq., a poet of considerable merit, and a 
distinguished painter, who, as Johnson half a century ago said of 
Reynolds, employs his art in diffusing friendship, in reviving ten¬ 
derness, in quickening the affections of the absent, and continuing 
the absence of the dead. 

’Twas Freedom's hand that grasp’d each laurel crown 
At Cape St. Vincent won, and Camperdown : 

’Twas Freedom’s sword, Aboukir’s doom that seal'd, 

And fought and conquer’d in Trafalgar’s^ field. 

t See July 25. * See Dec. 27. 

§ Matt, xxvii. 56; Mark xvi. 1. 

H Matt, xxvii. 55, 56 ; Mark xv. 40. 


51 This word, the author believes, is now, in compliance with the 
Spanish pionunciation, accented differently. 




OCTOBER. 


443 


embalm him, and who came for this purpose to the sepul¬ 
chre on Sunday morning early.* Entering into the tomb, 
they there saw an angel, who informed them that Jesus 
Christ was risen. Returning to Jerusalem, Jesus appeared 
to them on the way, and said to them, “ Be not afraid; 
go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there 
they shall see me.” (Matt, xxviii. 10.) Some say that 
Salome died at Jerusalem; others assert that she expired 
in Provence, in the south of France. 

22, 1/07. Sir Cloudesley Shovel, on his return with 
his fleet from the siege of Toulon, in Provence, depart¬ 
ment of Var, France, perished by shipwreck, with the 
whole of his own ship’s crew, on the Scilly Islands, near 
the Land’s End, in Cornwall. Sir Cloudesley’s body, 
being found, was conveyed to London, and buried in 
Westminster Abbey, where a tasteless monument was 
erected to his memory.f He was born in Norfolk, of 
mean parents, and raised to eminence by his great profes¬ 
sional talents : being, long before this unfortunate catas¬ 
trophe, considered as one of the ablest and bravest com¬ 
manders of the age. 

— 1802. Died, in the sixty-third year of his age, Dr. 
Samuel Arnold, an excellent composer of music. He 
was buried in Westminster Abbey, between the monu¬ 
ments of Purcell and Croft, two eminent musicians. 

23. The sun enters into the constellation trt, the Scorpion. 
See Eater. on the Globes. 

— Irish Massacre. This is a day set apart by the Ro¬ 
mish Church for the commemoration of St. Ignatius 
and this day, in the year 1641, was selected by the Papists 
in Ireland to massacre their Protestant brethren, 100,000 
of whom were most cruelly murdered in a few days in the 


* Mark xvi. 1, 2. 

t This monument has given great offence to men of taste, par¬ 
ticularly to Mr. Addison, who complains that instead of the brave, 
rough English admiral, which was the distinguished character of 
this plain, gallant man, he is here represented dressed like a 
beau, reposing himself upon velvet cushions, under a canopy of 
state. He excepts against the inscription likewise, which, in¬ 
stead of celebrating the many remarkable actions performed in 
the service of his country, acquaints us only with the manner of 
his death, in which it was impossible for him to reap any honour. 
See Fleur de Lis, Exer. on the Globes, 11th edit. 

J Ignatius Loyola. See April 19, 1804. 



444 OCTOBER. 

different provinces. See Arith. Quest, art. Massacre, 
Irish. 

23, 1642. Was fought the battle of Edge-Hill, in W ar¬ 
wickshire, being the first general engagement between the 
Royalists and the forces of the Parliament.* Charles I. 
was personally present. About 5000 men are said to have 
been found dead on the field of battle, but neither party 
could fairly claim a victory. Prince Rupert commanded 
the Royalists, and the Earl of Essex the Parliamentarians. 
Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, Charles’s general of the 
foot soldiers, was mortally wounded and taken prisoner. 
See Miscelt. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 

— 166/. Charles II. laid the first stone of the first pillar 
of the present Royal Exchange. See Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit. 

24, 1685. The famous Edict of NantzC was revoked. 
It was published in 1598 by Henry IV., to secure to his 
old friends the Protestants the free exercise of their reli¬ 
gion, and was the purest and most effulgent gem in Henry’s 
crown. The impolitic and unjust revocation of it by 
Louis XIV., with the subsequent brutal dragooning of the 
Protestants,} obliged them to take shelter in England, 
Holland, and different parts of Germany, where they esta¬ 
blished the silk and other manufactures, to the great pre¬ 
judice of their own country. 

25, 1154. King Stephen died at Dover, in the 50th year 
of his age, and the 19th year of his reign, and was buried 
at Feversliam Abbey, in Kent. He was a prince of acti¬ 
vity and courage, and endowed with an affability which 
gained and secured him the people’s affections, and though 
often betrayed by some of his party, he never gave way to 
cruelty or revenge. 

— 1400. Died Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the earliest 
English poets, born in London in 1328. Having obtained 
the patronage of John of Gaunt, he was introduced by 
him to the court of Edward III., and was successively 
page, gentleman of the privy-chamber, and shield-bearer 


* The first encounter in this war was at Powick-Bridge, near 
Worcester, between Prince Rupert, the king’s nephew, and Colo¬ 
nel Sandys, who was defeated and slain. Kimber. See Index. 

f Nantz, or Nantes, is situated on the Loire, in the depart¬ 
ment of Lower Loire, province of Bretagne, and is one of the 
most commercial places in France. 

} See Ency , Brit. art. Dragooning. 






OCTOBER. 


445 


to that monarch. His works are numerous, and very 
highly esteemed by the literati. Dryden says of him, 
" As the father of English poetry, I hold him in the same 
degree of venerationas the Grecians held Homer, or the 
Romans Virgil. He is a perpetual fountain of good sense, 
learned in all sciences, and therefore speaks properly on 
all subjects.” 

Thou first great spirit, of the Muses lov’d. 

That o’er the night of Saxon darkness mov’d, 

Lonely, as great! till mightier Spenser wrote, 

From every bard two hundred years remote. 

Burton’s Burdiad. 

25, 1415. Battle of Agincourt. Henry V. gained a 
signal victory over the French at Agincourt, a village in 
the Frenoh Netherlands, department of the Straits of 
Calais. See Arith. Quest. 10th edition. 

The 25th of October, on which this battle was fought, 
is St. Crispin’s Day, a circumstance noticed by our great 
bard in the following passage, so full of nature and truth : 

He that outlives this hour, and comes safe home. 

Shall stand on tiptoe when this day is nam’d, 

And rouse him at the name of Crispian : 

He that outlives this day, and sees old age, 

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, 

And say, To-morrow is St. Crispian. 

Crispin and Crispianus were two legendary saints, 
born at Rome, from whence, it is said, they travelled to 
Soissons, in France, about the year 303, to propagate 
the Christian religion; and because they would not be 
chargeable to others for their maintenance, they ex¬ 
ercised the trade of shoemakers; but the governor of 
the town, discovering them to be Christians, ordered 
them to be decollated. On this account the shoemakers 
since that period have made choice of them for their 
tutelar saints. 

— 1555. Charles V., emperor of Germany and king of 
Spain, in a splendid assembly of the states at Brussels, 
resigned to his son Philip the sovereignty of the Nether¬ 
lands. Charles, rising from his chair of state, and lean¬ 
ing on the shoulders of the Prince of Orange, addressed 
himself to the audience, and recounted all that he had 
undertaken and performed since the commencement of 
his administration. He observed, that from the 17th 
year of his age, he had dedicated all his thoughts and 
attention to the objects of public concern, reserving no 


446 


OCTOBER. 


portion of his time for the indulgence of ease, and very 
little for the enjoyment of pleasure: that, either in a 
pacific or hostile manner, he had visited Germany nine 
times, Italy seven times, the Netherlands ten times, Spain 
siv times, France four times, England twice , and had 
made eleven voyages. His infirmities, he said, now ad¬ 
monished him that it was time to retire; and if in the 
course of his long and complicated administration he 
had neglected or injured any of his subjects, he implored 
their forgiveness. Addressing his son Philip, he recom¬ 
mended him to let the laws of his country be sacred in 
his eyes, and not to encroach on the rights of the people.* 
Some time after, in an assembly equally splendid, Charles 
resigned to his son the crown of Spain, with all its de¬ 
pendent territories in the Old and New World. See 
Jan. 16, 1556, and Sept. 21, 1558; also Bourn’s Ga¬ 
zetteer, Brussels, Zuitburg, Laredo, and Placentia. 

25, 1739. Was laid the first stone of the Mansion-House ; 
a residence for the Lord Mayors of London, whose allow¬ 
ance from the city is «j£7>50Q a-year. See Arith. Quest. 
10th edition. 

— 1757. Died, at his Abbey of Senones, province of 
Lorraine, in France, the learned Benedictine father, Au¬ 
gustus Calmet, aged 84. He published nearly sixty 
volumes. His great work is a Dictionary of the Bible. 

— 1760. George II. expired suddenly at Kensington,f 
in the 77th year of his age, and the 34th of his reign ; 
honoured, beloved, and regretted, for his eminent virtues. 
He was of the Brunswick line. 

— 1764. Died, in Leicester Square, William Hogarth, 
who has immortalized his name as a humourist painter. 
He was born in London about 1698, and was bound an 
apprentice to an engraver of arms on plate; but before 
his time was expired he felt the impulse of genius, which 
directed him to painting. His designs for HudibrasJ 
first signalized him in the burlesque style. He soon 
became more conspicuous by his Harlot’s Progress, 


* Charles seems to have forgotten how he himself had en¬ 
croached on the dearest privileges of his subjects, in forcing their 
consciences and persecuting the Protestants. See April 19, 1529, 
and Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Spire. 

f See Kensington, Index. 

X See Sept. 24, 1680, 



OCTOBER. 


447 

Rake’s Progress,* Marriage A-la-Mode, London Appren¬ 
tices, and innumerable productions of that kind; tracing 
the progress of human folly and vice from their source 
to their despicable or tragic end: lienee he has been 
termed a Phoenixf in the art, which probably never before 
appeared in any nation; he was in painting a moral sa¬ 
tirist, and endeavoured to convey to the mind sublime 
moral truths;—he painted for the instruction of every 
age and every country. In fact, superior genius in poetry 
and painting is engaged suitably to its dignity, only when 
it becomes the handmaid to virtue,}; impresses on the 
mind her invaluable lessons, and inspires the spectator 
with the resolution to “ live o’er each scene, and be 
what he beholds.”§ Thus may 

Pictur’d morals charm the mind, 

And thro’ the eye correct the heart. || 

Garrick’s Epitaph on Hogarth. 

Hogarth also appeared as an author, and, in “ An 
Analysis of Beauty,” shewed a curve to be the line of 
beauty, and round swelling figures to be most pleasing to 
the eye. His paintings were numerous; and as he en¬ 
graved from them all himself, his designs are universally 
known. Political acrimony is thought to have been the 
death of this extraordinary genius. He was buried in 
Chiswick churchyard, where a monument is erected to 
his memory, with an excellent epitaph by Garrick. See 
Nov. 5, 1764. 

25, 1788. Died, at Wheatley, about 5 miles south-east from 
Oxford, William Julius Mickle, the well-known 
translator of the Lusiad.®f[ He was born about the year 


* The fourteen original paintings were consumed when Font- 
hill, a seat about fifteen miles from Salisbury, then in the pos¬ 
session of Alderman Beckford, was consumed by fire. 

Lives of British Painters , by A. Cunningham. 

f See Exer. on the Globes , 11th edition. 

+ Wright and West, Index. § See Arith. Quest, art. Painting. 

|| Goethe was of the same opinion. His object in procuring 
fine copies of the chefs-d’ceuvres of antiquity, was not merely the 
pleasure which is felt from the sight of fine statues and pictures ; . 
he thought both the genius and the soul are affected by it. “ I 
, should be a better man,” said he, “ if I had always under my 
eyes the head of the Olympian Jupiter, which was so much ad¬ 
mired by the ancients.” Stael’s Germany , Vol. II. p. 396. 

^ The Lusiad is a poem which celebrates the establishment of 



448 


OCTOBER. 


1/35, at Langholm, in Dumfries-shire, Scotland. His 
poetry possesses much beauty, harmony of numbers, and 
vigour of imagination $ but his translation of the Lusiad 
is more elegant than faithful. “The English reader,” 
says an able critic, “ who desires to see the plan and 
character of that poem, must still have recourse to the 
translation of Fanshawe.” Sir R. Fanshawe was a gal¬ 
lant and loyal soldier in the service of Charles I.; and 
was created a Baronet by that monarch at the siege of 
Oxford. 

25, 1800. Died Thomas Macklin, a print-seller in Fleet 
Street, London, to whose spirited and enterprising exer¬ 
tions the possessors of historical painting and engraving 
in this country were indebted for many brilliant oppor¬ 
tunities of displaying and improving their talents in the 
Exhibition of “ The Poets’ Gallery.” His splendid 
edition of the Bible is an unrivalled monument of the 
taste and energy of the individual who planned and car- 


the Portuguese empire in India. It was written by Camoens,— 
the glory and the reproach of Portugal. He was born at Lisbon, 
and died there in 1579, after a life chequered by perilous adven¬ 
tures, both by sea and land. In his last days he was reduced to 
the greatest extremity of want; being chiefly maintained by an 
old black servant whp had long been the faithful companion of 
his distresses. This poor Malay, Antonio by name, he had 
brought from India; and one of the services he performed was 
that of begging from door to door for the bread which was to 
save his master from perishing by hunger. . Camoens died in a 
hospital, in the 55th year of his age : the winding-sheet in which 
he was wrapped was, in fact, obtained by alms. He was buried 
in the church of the convent of St. Anna, a Franciscan nunnery. 

Camoens was a man of tried courage, and supported his mis¬ 
fortunes with great firmness of mind. When shipwrecked on the 
coast of Cambodia, it is said that he swam to shore, stemming 
the waves with one hand, aud securing his Lusiad with the other. 
See Meco, Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

When Europe, long in mental slumbers bound, 

Woke from Cimmerian darkness, at the sound 
Of Gama’s Indian world, the golden scheme 
Called forth a Camoens to the splendid theme : 
Shipwreck’d on China’s coast, with single hand. 

He stemm’d the cruel surge, and reach’d the land ; 

While straining high his left, secure he bore 
His “ Lusiad,” Lisbon’s glory, to the shore. 

Burton’s Bardiad , p. 20. 



OCTOBER. 449 

ried into execution so magnificent an undertaking. See 
Tomkins, Index. 

26, 1751. Expired, at Lisbon, whither he went for the re¬ 
covery of his health, the learned and pious Dr. Philip 
Doddridge, an eminent Dissenting Minister at Nor¬ 
thampton, born in London, 1702. His most celebrated 
work is, “ The Family Expositor: containing a Version 
and Paraphrase of the New Testament, with Critical 
Notes, and a Practical Improvement of each Section,” in 
6 vols. quarto, which has been translated and well re¬ 
ceived abroad. Dr. Doddridge was interred in the bury- 
ing-ground of the English factory at Lisbon. See Orton, 
Index; and Arithmetical Questions, 10th edition, art. 
Doddridge. 

27, 1553. Was burnt alive, at Geneva, for his avowal of 
anti-trinitarian sentiments, Michael Servetus, an acute 
and learned Spanish physician, born at Villaneuva, in 
Arragon, or at Tudella, in Navarre, in 1509, and edu¬ 
cated at Toulouse, in the South of France. The sentence 
of death was passed against Servetus by the magistrates 
of Geneva, with the approbation of several magistrates 
and ministers of Switzerland; yet it is the opinion of 
most historians, that this dreadful sentence was imposed 
at the instigation of Calvin, owing to a polemical hatred. 
This act of severity for holding a speculative opinion, 
however erroneous and absurd, especially on a subject 
confessedly incomprehensible, has left a stain on the cha¬ 
racter of this illustrious Reformer, which will ever dim 
the lustre of his name. This intolerant spirit of Calvin 
gave the Papists a favourable opportunity to accuse the 
Protestants of inconsistency in their principles. How 
could the magistrates, said they, who acknowledged no 
infallible interpretation of the Scriptures, condemn Ser¬ 
vetus to death because he explained them differently from 
Calvin ; since every man has the privilege to expound 
the Scripture according to his own judgment, without 
having recourse to the church ? It was a great injustice, 
they remarked, to condemn a man because he would not 
submit to the judgment of an enthusiast, who might be 
wrong as well as himself.* 


* See May 27, 1564. The particulars of Calvin’s treatment of 
Servetus may be seen in Dr. Benson’s Tract on Persecution. 
This very candid and distinguished Dissenting Minister was 
born at Great Salkeld, in Cumberland, 1699, and died in London, 



450 


OCTOBER. 


27, 1783. D’Alembert, one of the ablest mathematicians 
of the age, died at Paris. See July 2, 1784. 

— 1802. Died, at Bristol Hot-Wells, whither he went for 
the recovery of his health. Dr. Henry Hunter, an emi¬ 
nent Presbyterian divine, greatly admired in the metro¬ 
polis for his pulpit eloquence, and much beloved for his 
social qualities. His works are numerous, consisting 
chiefly of translations from the French ; and six volumes 
of sermons, entitled “ Sacred Biography.” He was born 
at Culross, in Perthshire, 1741, and was buried in Bun- 
liill-Fields, London. 

— 1805. Died the Rev. Walter Blake Kirwan, Dean 
of Killaloe, in the county of Clare, Ireland, a preferment 
which he owed to the Marquis of Cornwallis, who was 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in the year 1800. 

Dean Kirwan has been styled the most celebrated pul¬ 
pit orator of our times. Whenever he preached, it was 
necessary to defend the entrance of the church by means 
of guards and pallisadoes. His power was irresistible. 
Entire purses were emptied into the plate; and rings, 
jewels, and watches added, as pledges of further benefac¬ 
tions. Even in seasons of national calamity and distress, 
he has repeatedly been known to draw forth, by a single 
sermon, a collection exceeding a thousand or twelve hun¬ 
dred pounds. His death, it is related, was signally pious 
and resigned: and, in addition to his celebrity as a 
preacher, he left behind him a high reputation for integ¬ 
rity, generosity, kindness, and domestic virtue. He was 
greatly, if not wholly, engaged in preaching charity ser¬ 
mons. For polemical divinity he had no taste; nor did 
he ever, it is said, even in his most confidential commu¬ 
nications, breathe a syllable of contempt or reproach 
against any religious persuasion whatever. 

Dean Kirwan was born in the county of Galway, Ire¬ 
land, and was educated at St. Omer’s, among the Catho¬ 
lics; but, in 1787, quitted their communion, and joined 
the Established Church. He died at his house in Mount 
Pleasant, near Dublin. A volume of posthumous Ser¬ 
mons has been published for the benefit of his family. 

28. St. Simon and St. Jude. Simon was, perhaps, a na¬ 
tive of Cana, in Galilee; hence, as some suppose, he is 


1763. He was for some time colleague with Dr. Lardner at 
Crutched-Friars, and after that great man’s death had the sole 
pastorship entrusted to him. 




OCTOBER. 


451 


called the Canaanite. Bishop Newton says, there is some 
probability that the gospel was preached in Britain by 
St Simon. 

Jude* was the brother of Christ. Nothing particular 
is related of this apostle in the four evangelists, except 
the question which he addressed to his Divine Master, 
John xiv. 21. Nor is there any certain account in what 
countries he preached the gospel, or whether he suffered 
martyrdom or died a natural death. See June 19. 

28, 900. Died, Alfred the Great, King of England, the 
most illustrious monarch that ever filled the British throne. 
He was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, A. D. 849, being 
the youngest son of iEthelwolf, King of the West Saxons. 
He was a prince of great learning and courage, and of a 
most amiable disposition. The various vicissitudes of 
fortune that he experienced form a very interesting part 
of the English history. At length, however, he totally 
repulsed the Danes, and firmly established himself on the 
throne of England.f He first divided the kingdom into 
counties, hundreds, and tithings; and it is to him that we 
owe the inestimable privilege of Trial by Jury. He was 
buried at Winchester. See Bourn’s Gazetteer, Athelney, 
Eddington, Farringdon, Kenwith, Wantage, White-Horse 
Vale, and Winchester. 

— 1216. Henry III., son of King John, was crowned at 
Gloucester, in the 9th year of his age. He was of the 
Plantagenet line. See Oct. 1, 120/. 

— 146/. Erasmus, the most learned man of the age in 
which he lived, was born at Rotterdam, in Holland. 
After spending a long and laborious life in opposing ig¬ 
norance and superstition^ and in promoting literature and 
true piety, he died on the 12th of July 1536, at Basil, in 
Switzerland, a city which for many years had greatly de¬ 
lighted him,J and which he therefore selected for the re¬ 
treat of his declining age. The house in which he ex- 


* Jude is called Judas, Thaddeus, and Lebbeus. The traitor 
has always Iscariot, or some epithet, subjoined to his name, to 
distinguish him from this faithful apostle. 

f His martial exploits have not so much contributed to eter¬ 
nize his fame as his civil institutions. He is said to have founded 
the University of Oxford ; but it is not disputed, that at least he 
restored that University, endowed it with revenues, and placed in 
it famous professors. 

I See fixer, on the Globes , 11th edit. art. Switzerland. 



452 


OCTOBER. 


pired is still shewn; and the place where the professors 
of divinity read their winter lectures, is called the College 
of Erasmus. The city of Rotterdam also made proper 
returns of gratitude to a name by which she was so much 
ennobled ; and perpetuated her acknowledgments by in¬ 
scriptions, medals, and statues. It should ever be recol¬ 
lected, to the honour of Erasmus, that he was the first to 
publish a printed edition of the Greek Testament. 

Erasmus visited several parts of Europe, but was par¬ 
ticularly pleased with England, and extolled the humanity, 
politeness, and learning of the English: declaring that 
no country had furnished him with so many learned and 
generous benefactors, as even the single city of London. 
Erasmus was buried in the Cathedral of Basil. 

28, 1597. Died, at Rome, the younger Aldus, the third 
and last in the succession of an illustrious family of 
learned and ingenious Printers, whose names and publi¬ 
cations are stili the glory of the typographical art. The 
first Aldus was born at Bassano, in the north of Italy, and 
thence is sometimes called Bassianus. He was the first 
who printed Greek neatly and correctly; and he acquired 
so much reputation in his art, that whatever was finely 
printed, was proverbially said to have come from the 
press of Aldus. He lived at Venice. 

28, 1704. Expired John Locke, one of the greatest phi¬ 
losophers, and one of the most successful adversaries of 
superstition and tyranny, that England ever produced. 
He was born at Wrington, near Bristol, in 1632, and has 
immortalized his name by several political and other 
works; the principal of which, “Letters upon Tolera¬ 
tion,” “ Essays concerning Human Understanding,’ , 
“Treatises on Government,” “Paraphrase and Notes on 
the Epistles of St. Paul,” &c., have attained universal 
esteem, and will preserve it as long as good sense and 
virtue are left in the world.* In his private conduct, Mr. 
Locke considered civility not only as a duty of humanity, 
but of Christianity ;f he was exact to his word; regularly 
performed whatever he promised ; \ was very scrupulous 


* Mr. Fox calls Mr. Locke the chiefest glory of the University 
of Oxford. Life of James II. p. 54. 

f The Stoics classed politeness among the moral virtues. 

J Dr. Johnson has represented the Duke of Devonshire, great¬ 
grandfather of the present representative of that noble family, as 
so strictly faithful to his word, that “ if he had promised you an 




OCTOBER. 


453 


of giving recommendations of persons whom he did not 
well know, and would never commend those whom he 
thought not deserving of praise. These may seem trivial 
notices in the character of so great a man; but young 
persons should know that they are of infinite importance 
in the duties of social life. “The last scene of Mr. 
Locke’s life,” says Lady Masham, " was no less admirable 
than any thing else in him. All the faculties of his mind 
were perfect to the last; but his weakness, of which only 
he died, made such gradual and visible advances, that few 
people do so sensibly see death approach them, as he did. 
During all which time no one could observe the least 
alteration in his humour; always cheerful, conversable, 
civil to the last day, thoughtful of all the concerns of his 
friends, and omitting no fit occasion of giving Christian 
advice to all about him. In short, his death was like his 
life, truly pious, yet natural, easy and unaffected; nor can 
time, I think,” continues her Ladyship, “ ever produce a 
more eminent example of reason and religion than he 
was, living and dying.”* The day before his death, this 
amiable woman being alone with him, and sitting by his 
bed-side, he exhorted her to regard this world only as a 
state of preparation for a better; adding, “ that he had 
lived long enough, and thanked God for having passed 
his life so happily; but that this life appeared to him mere 
vanity.” He left also a letter to be delivered, after his 
death, to his friend, Anthony Collins, concluding, “ that 


acorn, and none had grown that year in his woods, he would not 
have contented himself with that excuse ; he would have sent to 
Denmark for it. So unconditional was he in his word; so high 
as to the point of honour.” This (says Boswell) was a liberal 
testimony from the Toryf Johnson to the virtue of a great Whig 
nobleman. See Arith. Quest . 10th edit. art. Revolution-House. 

* Letter from Lady Masham to Mr. Laughton, dated Nov. 8, 
1704, from Oates, the seat of Sir Francis Masham, where Mr. 
Locke died, in the 73d year of his age, and his remains were in¬ 
terred in the churchyard of Oates, a village east of Harlow, in 
Essex, about 23 miles from London. Lady Masham was the 
daughter of the learned Dr. Cudworth, (author of the Intellectual 
System of the Universe,) and wrote a Discourse concerning the' 
Love of God, and Occasional Thoughts in reference to a Virtuous 
and Christian Life. Lady M. died in 1708, aged 50, and was 
buried in the Abbey Church at Bath. 


1 See Tory and Whig, Index; and Arith. Quest. 




454 


OCTOBER. 


this life is a scene of vanity, which soon passes away, and 
affords no solid satisfaction, but in the consciousness of 
doing' well, and the hopes af another.” See February 27, 
1706. 

28, 1708. Died, at Kensington, His Royal Higness Prince 
George of Denmark, Queen Anne’s consort. He was 
born at Copenhagen, in 1653; married the Princess Anne 
in 1683, and was an illustrious instance of conjugal affec¬ 
tion among the great. The prince was buried in West¬ 
minster Abbey. 

— 1716. Died, at Chiswick, universally regretted, in the 
90th year of his age. Sir Stephen Fox, grandfather to 
the celebrated patriot. He was a man of superior abili¬ 
ties and accomplished manners; but what will endear his 
memory to the latest posterity is, his having been the first 
projector of the noble design of Chelsea Hospital. See 
Arith. Quest. 

— 1746. Lima was utterly destroyed by an earthquake, 
as was likewise the adjacent port of Callao. The sea, 
receding to a considerable distance, returned in moun¬ 
tainous waves, foaming with the violence of the agitation, 
and converted Callao into a sea; nothing remaining, ex¬ 
cept a piece of the wall of the fort, as a memorial of this 
terrible devastation. At that moment twenty-three ships 
were riding in the harbour, nineteen of which were abso¬ 
lutely sunk, and the other four were carried, by the irre¬ 
sistible force of the waves, a considerable way up the 
country. Near 4000 persons perished at Callao. 

— 1792. Expired, to the regret of a numerous circle of 
friends and acquaintance, John Smeaton, F. R. S., one 
of the most eminent engineers which this country ever 
produced. Among the numerous works completed by 
this ingenious artist, Ramsgate Pier and the present Eddy- 
stone Lighthouse* hold a distinguished place. Of this 
work he gave an ample description in a folio volume, with 
plates, published in 1791; a performance in which the 
originality of his genius is fully displayed, as well as his 
activity, industry, and perseverance. Mr. Smeaton pos¬ 
sessed other qualities besides soundness of judgment and 
variety of invention ; he was endowed with an uncommon 
simplicity of manners, great modesty, and a rare mode¬ 
ration in pecuniary ambition; to his family he was affec¬ 
tionate ; and he laudably controlled, by the power of his 


* See Oct. 9, 1759 ; and Nov. 26, 1703. 



OCTOBER. 


455 


reason, a temper which was constitutionally warm. He 
was, in short, another addition to the list of those (and the 
list is comparatively but small) who have been both wise 
and good. 

28 1806. Charlotte Smith, author of Sonnets, Novels, 
and other celebrated Works, expired at Tilford, near 
Farnham, Surrey, after a lingering and painful illness, 
which she bore with the utmost fortitude. Mrs. S. was 
born and buried at Stoke, near Guildford, in Surrey. 

29, 1526. Lewis II., king of Hungary, was defeated by 
Soliman, emperor of the Turks, whom he had impru¬ 
dently attacked near Mohatz, in Lower Hungary. The 
king in his flight was thrown from his horse, and suffo¬ 
cated in a marsh. His body was found fixed in the mud, 
in an upright position. 

— 1618. Death of Raleigh. On this day the renowned 
English admiral and worthy patriot Sir Walter Raleigh, 
was decapitated in Old Palace Yard, Westminster, and 
buried the same day in St. Margaret’s church adjoining, 
in the 66th year of his age. His behaviour on the scaf¬ 
fold was manly, unaffected, cheerful, and easy. Being 
asked by the executioner which way he should lay his 
head, he answered, “So the heart be right, it is no matter 
which way the head lies.”* He was a man of admirable 
parts, extensive knowledge, undaunted resolution, and 
strict honour and honesty, and the author of numerous 
works. This great man was sacrificed to the resentment 
of the court of Spain, by that pusillanimous prince James 
I., upon an ill-grounded charge of treason; and no 
measure of James’s reign was attended with more public 
dissatisfaction than this instance of his meanness, cruelty, 
and injustice. 

Were ev’ry other act forgot, that gives 
To detestation and contempt thy name; 

Yet know, that Raleigh’s murder, wretched king. 

Alone would brand thee with eternal shame. 

Poetical Chronology . 


* Sir Thomas More’s habitual serenity did not forsake him in 
the last trying scene of his life. Ascending the scaffold, which 
seemed so weak that it was ready to fall, he said, “ I pray see 
me safe up, and for my coming down let me shift for myself.” 
His prayers being ended, he turned to the executioner, and with 
a cheerful countenance said, “ Pluck up thy spirits, man, and be 
not afraid to do thy office.” Then laying his head upon the 
block, he bade him stay till he had put aside his beard, observing. 



456 


OCTOBER. 


Sir Walter was a native of Devonshire; and was born 
at Haye’s Farm, in the parish of Budleigh, near Exmouth. 
See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Potatoes. 

29, 1804. Expired, in a place of confinement for debt, at 
London, his native city, in the fortieth year of his age, 
George Morland, an admirable painter, particularly of 
rural scenes ; a man on whom the bounty of Heaven had 
bestowed taste, with all its sensibilities ; genius, with all its 
vivacity; industry, with every opportunity of assuring its 
utmost rewards, combined with much of that celebrity 
which gratifies the very soul of an artist, and, while he 
labours to weariness, renders him insensible to toil. His 
great talents were, however, degraded by such disgusting 
eccentricities, gross licentiousness, and vicious indulgen¬ 
ces, that (although he could with ease earn four guineas 
a day) he died in the extreme of wretchedness, penury, 
and distress; a striking instance, that genius itself, or all 
the high qualities found in a consummate artist, will never 
shield the possessor from misery, unless accompanied by 
that prudence, temperance, and integrity, which can 
alone ensure respect, esteem, and admiration. See July 
15, 1802. 

30, 1485. Henry VII. was crowned at Westminster, on 
which day he first instituted the Yeomen of the Guards. 
With him began the Tudor line. See Butler’s Arith. 
Tables, and Miscell. Quest. 

— 1736. Don Ulloa, a captain in the Spanish army, left 
Quito, in South America, where he had been assisting 
some French mathematicians in measuring a degree of 
the meridian near the equator, in order to determine the 
true figure of the earth. He was a native of Seville, and 
died in the Isle of Leon, near Cadiz, in 1795. See Exer. 
on the Globes , art. Degree; also Arith. Quest, art. Annual 
Revolution of the Earth. 

— 1757. Died Admiral Vernon, a brave naval com¬ 
mander, who took Porto Bello* * with six ships only, a 
force which was generally thought very unequal to the 
undertaking. He afterwards made an attempt upon Car- 
thagena, (in the north-west part of South-America,) 
which proved unsuccessful, owing, in a great measure, to 


that “That had never committed any treason.” See July 6, 
1535, Oct. 18, and Dec. 7, 1683. 

* See March 22, 1740. 



OCTOBER. 457 

a pestilential disease and a dreadful mortality among his 
ships’ crews. 

At Carthagena gallant Vernon saw 
A miserable scene ; he pitying saw 
To infant weakness suuk the warrior’s arm ; 

Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form, 

The lip pale-quivering, and the beamless eye. 

No more with ardour bright: he heard the groans 
Of agonizing ships from shore to shore : 

Heard nightly plung’d amid the sullen waves 
The frequent corse, while on each other fix’d, 

In sad presage, the blank assistants seem’d. 

Silent, to ask whom Fate* would next demand.'!' 

Thomson. 

30, 1760. Was laid the first stone of Blackfriars’Bridge. 
See Arith. Quest, art. Bridges. 

31, The Feast of St. Stachys, who was a disciple mention¬ 
ed by Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, chap. xvi. 9. 
The Greeks give him the title of an apostle, and put him 
among the seventy disciples. Some assert that he was 
Bishop of Byzantium, afterwards Constantinople. 

— Is the day on which Narcissus is inserted in the Roman 
martyrology. The Greeks say that he was Bishop of 
Athens, and a martyr, give him the title of an apostle, and 
place him in the number of the seventy disciples. He is 
mentioned by Paul, Roin. xvi. 11. 

— 1732. Victor Amadeus II., duke of Savoy, and the 
first king of Sardinia, died at Montcallier, about two 
years after his abdication of the throne. See Rivoli, 
Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1765. William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, 
died suddenly of an apoplexy in the 45th year of his age, 
as he was preparing to assist at a council on state affairs. 
He was the third son of George II. and his amiable queen 
Caroline. He attended his father at the battle of Dettin- 
gen, and received a shot through the calf of his leg. At 


* Exercises on the Globes , art. Parcse. 

f Dr. Blair, in his Letters on Rhetoric, highly commends these 
lines. The imagination, he says, is deeply impressed by the sin¬ 
gle circumstance of dead bodies being thrown overboard ; of the 
constant sound of their falling into the waters ; and of the Ad¬ 
miral listening to this melancholy sound, so often striking to his 
ear. Vol. III. Lect. xi. 


x 




45 & 


OCTOBER. 


Fontenoy he was defeated by Count Saxe, and at Cul- 
loden he gained a victory over the Pretender, but at 
Closter-Seven his laurels were tarnished by a humiliating 
convention, in 1757, which was followed by his resig¬ 
nation of all his military commands. He was buried in 
Westminster Abbey, in a vault which George II. had 
built for his beloved Caroline, himself and family. See 
Bourn’s Gazetteer , Westminster, note, and Nov. 20, 

1737. 




( 459 ) 


NOVEMBER. 


“ Now the leaf 

Incessant rustles from the mournful grove : 

Oft startling such as, studious, walk below ; 

And slowly circles thro’ the waving air.” 

The pale-descending year, yet pleasing still I 

November is the eleventh month in the Julian year, but 
In the year of Romulus, the ninth; whence its name from 
novem, the Latin word for nine. The Roman senators (for 
whose mean servilities Tiberias, it is said, often blushed) 

• wished to call this month, in which he was born, by his 
name, in imitation of Julius Caesar and Augustus;* but this 
the emperor absolutely refused, saying*, “ What will you do, 
Conscript Fathers,f if you have thirteen Caesars ?” 

November, says Peacham, is drawn in a garment of 
changeable green, with black upon his head, and bunches of 
parsnips and turnips in his right hand. This month being 
distinguished by its dreary appearance and the fall of the 
leaf, has acquired, in the Spectator, the epithet of th e gloomy 
month of November. The rapid succession of springing and 
falling leaves has been thus beautifully applied by Homer: 

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found. 

Now green in youth, now withering on the ground : 
Another race the following Spring supplies, 

They fall successive, and successive rise : 

So generations in their course decay, 

So flourish these, when those are passed away. 

Pope’s Homer. 

REMARKABLE EVENTS. 

1, 1483. Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, the 
vile instrument of Richard III.’s usurpation, was beheaded 


* See July, p. 246, and August, p. 297. 

f Conscript Fathers —Patres Conscripti, was a term used in 
speaking of the Roman senators, because their names were writ¬ 
ten in the register of the senate. 

x 2 





460 


NOVEMBER. 


at Shrewsbury without any legal process, but by the 
king’s order only. Having, as he supposed, been but ill 
requited for his services, he concerted measures with 
Morton, bishop of Ely, his prisoner, to dethrone the 
usurper, whom he had lately set up. Fearing the ven¬ 
geance of the tyrant, who had heard of his defection, and 
who had offered ,£1000 for his apprehension, he concealed 
himself in the house of Banister, an old steward, on whom 
he had previously conferred many favours. The tyrant’s 
bribe overcame the servant’s fidelity, and he basely be¬ 
trayed his master and his benefactor. 

], 1700. Charles II., king of Spain, expired at Madrid, 
having, after much indecision between the houses of 
Austria and Bourbon, executed a will m favour of one of 
the grandsons of Louis XIV. He was a feeble prince, 
destitute of those qualities requisite to the government of 
a kingdom, and the last of the posterity of the emperor 
Charles V., whose crown and sceptre were now trans¬ 
ferred to the house of Bourbon. Philip, duke of Anjou, 
ascended the throne of Spain under the title of Philip V. 
See Oct. 20, 1740. 

— 1714. Died Dr. John Radcliffe, the most eminent 
physician of his time: he left <£40,000 to the university 
of Oxford for the augmentation of its library, besides 
many other large and beneficial donations. He was a 
native of Wakefield, in Yorkshire, where he was born in 
1650. He came to London in 1684, and in less than a 
year obtained some of the prime business of the metro¬ 
polis. This uncommon success is generally ascribed more 
to his ready wit and vivacity, than to any extraordinary 
acquisitions in learning, or profound knowledge of physic. 
Dr. Mead has, however, asserted, that “ Radcliffe was 
deservedly at the head of his profession, on account of his 
great medical penetration and experience.” He died at 
Carshalton, near Croydon, in Surrey, where he had a 
house to which lie confined himself through fear of assas¬ 
sination, with which he had been threatened, in conse¬ 
quence of his enemies having imputed the death of queen 
Anne to his absence from the last consultation which was 
held by her physicians. He was buried in St. Mary’s 
church, Oxford. 

— 1724. Expired Dr. Humphrey Prideaux, a cele¬ 
brated English divine, historian, and critic, born at Pad- 
stow, in Cornwall, in 1648. His largest work, “The 
Connexion of the History of the Old and New Testa¬ 
ment,” a body of universal history, is a most valuable 


NOVEMBER. 461 

work. Dr. Humphrey Prideaux was dean of Norwich, 
and was buried in that city. 

1, 1755. Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, suffered dread¬ 
fully by an earthquake;* no less than 70,000 persons, 
according to the most moderate calculation, being de¬ 
stroyed by this dreadful wreck of nature. By an act of 
generosity and humanity which conferred the highest 
honour on the British parliament and nation, the sum of 
^100,000 was voted for the use of the distressed inhabi¬ 
tants of that metropolis ; and supplies to this amount in 
corn, flour, rice and other necessaries, were shipped with¬ 
out delay for Portugal, and proved a most welcome and 
seasonable relief. Amid the thousands and millions 
expended for the puposes of devastation and destruction, 
a vote of this description (says Mr. Belsham) seems as a 
paradise blooming in the wild. 

— 1770. Died Alexander Cruden, born at Aberdeen, 
in 1701. In 1728 he settled in London, and took a 
bookseller’s shop under the Royal Exchange; but his 
principal subsistence arose from his conducting several 
learned works, then in the press. In 1737 he published 
his “ Concordance of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testament,” one of the best books of the kind, 
and a singular instance of indefatigable labour and per- 


* At the time of this calamitous event the waters of Loch- 
Lomond and Loch-Ness, beautiful lakes in Scotland, were agi¬ 
tated in an uticommon manner. This last continued ebbing and 
flowing for the space of an hour, when a wave much greater than 
the others terminated the commotion, by overflowing the North 
bank of the lake to the extent of 30 feet.f At the same period 
a singular phenomenon happened to the hot-well at Bristol : the 
water suddenly became as red as blood, and so very turbid that 
it could not be drunk. The water, also, of a common well, which 
had been remarkably clear, at once turned as black as ink, and 
continued unfit for use nearly a fortnight. The tide, likewise, in 
the river Avon flowed back, contrary to its natural course ; and 
various other effects of some unknown convulsion in the bowels 
of the earth, were perceived in different places. But all conjec¬ 
ture as to the cause of these extraordinary circumstances was 
vain, till the news arrived of the earthquake at Lisbon having 
happened on the same day, which gave a satisfactory solution to 
the several phenomena. 


t Loch-Tay, says Mr. Gilpin, suffered an agitation still more re¬ 
markable in 1784, because no earthquake, nor any probable cause, 
could be assigned for it. Tour,Yol. II. p. 38. 




462 


NOVEMBER. 


severance in the most useful employment. He was 
very learned man ; and was found dead on his knees, 
apparently in a posture of prayer, at his lodgings in 
Islington ;f—thus happily experiencing, as Milton finely 
expresses it, 

A gentle wafting to immortal life. 

1, 1/B3. Expired, in consequence of an apoplectic stroke, 
Charles Linnaeus, born at Fahlun, the capital of 


* See Feb. 20, 1737. 

t Iseldon, or Islington, is a place of high antiquity, and fre¬ 
quently mentioned with respect in ancient records. 

Old Iseldon, tho’ scarce, in modern song, 

Nam’d but in scorn, may boast of honour’d days j 

For many a darling child of science there 

Hath trimm’d his lamp, and wove his laurel-crown. 

La Bagatella. 

Sir Walter Raleigh, it is affirmed, resided in this pleasant vil¬ 
lage.J Samuel Clarke, a learned orientalist, and one of the edi¬ 
tors of the Polyglot Bible,§ was a school-master at Islington, in 
1650. Ezekiel Tongue, author of several tracts against the Pa¬ 
pists, and some treatises in natural history, kept an academy at 
Islington, about the year 1660. Colonel Okey, an officer of emi¬ 
nence in Cromwell’s army, and one of the judges of King Charles 
I., is said to have been originally a drayman in a brewhouse at 
this place. Joseph Collyer, author of some historical and geo¬ 
graphical works, died there in 1776. Mrs. Collyer, who trans¬ 
lated the Death of Abel, resided at Islington, as did likewise 
Addison, in the summer season, and Daniel De Foe.|j 

Canonbury-House, in the vicinity of Islington, has moreover 
been the temporary residence of several persons of eminence in 
the literary world. Samuel Humphreys, who wrote a poem called 
Canons, and translated “ Le Spectacle de la Nature,” and 
other works, died there in January 1737 : as did Ephraim Cham¬ 
bers,If the well-known author of the Cyclopaedia, in 1740. Dr. 
Goldsmith^ had lodgings there, and the late John Newbery, au¬ 
thor of several useful books for the amusement of children. 


t See Arith. Quest, loth edit, and Oct. 29, 1618. 

§ The term Polyglot is derived from two Greek words denoting 
many languages. The Bible here alluded to was printed in 1657, in 
six volumes, called Walton’s Polyglot, from the author of the edi¬ 
tion, Dr. Bryan Walton, afterwards bishop of Winchester. The first 
Polyglot Bible was that of Cardinal Ximenes, printed in Spain, in. 
1515* 

II See Sept. 1,1651, and Arith . Quest . 


See Index. 


ce * * * § 




NOVEMBER. 


463 


Dalecarlia, in Sweden, Jan. 20, 1741. He was interred 
in the Cathedral of Upsal close to the remains of his 
venerable father, whom he succeeded as professor of 
botany in the university of that city. He was the delight 
of his friends, and his premature death eclipsed many 
tine and brilliant hopes. The Erica Linnreana, (No. 
102,) in Loddiges’ Botanical Cabinet, was named 
after the elder Linnaeus. See Jan. 10, 1778. 

1, 1793. Died Lord George Gordon, son of the Duke 
of Gordon. He obtained a seat in the House of Com¬ 
mons ; and after taking a very violent part against a bill 
for the relief of Papists from certain penalties and disabi¬ 
lities, he headed a popular association to oppose the 
measure; which transaction gave rise to the dreadful riots 
in 1780. For this he was tried on a charge of high- 
treason, but acquitted. His whole life after was spent 
under legal censures and imprisonment for libels, con¬ 
tempts of court, &c., and he died in Newgate, having 
previously embraced the Jewish religion. See June 6, 1780. 

— 1810. Died, at Kentish-Town, near London, in his 94th 
year, Charles Grignion, who flourished in this coun¬ 
try, as an historical engraver, upwards of half a century. 
His best works possess, in an eminent degree, whatever 
constitutes character and expression; and it may be 
truly said, that he first planted the seed of the elegant 
art of English engraving, which has arisen to such luxu¬ 
riance and maturity under the more accomplished hands 
of our chief engravers. Thus, as this venerable artist 
advanced in life, his own pure, old-fashioned style was 
superseded by a more imposing, a more finished, but 
a less intelligent manner. This revolution in engraving 
threw him into obscurity, and reduced him to poverty; 
but a few artists and lovers of art, to whom his virtues 
and his talents were equally dear, by a prompt and effi¬ 
cient subscription, smoothed the path of his declining 
years, and enabled him to close his days in the bosom of 
his family, with a contented and a grateful mind. He 
resigned his life without any pain or struggle, and rather 
like one falling into a soft sleep, than by the unerring- 
hand of “ the King of Terrors.” The vital oil which 
supplied the lamp of life was exhausted merely by old 
age. His death exactly realized those beautiful lines of 
Donne: Thus 

-Virtuous men pass mildly away, 

And whisper to their souls to go : 

While some of their sad friends do say, 

The breath goes now ; and some say, No. 



464 


NOVEMBER. 


2, 1502. Columbus entered the harbour on the Isthmus 
of Darien, to which, on account of its extent, depth, se¬ 
curity, and beautiful situation, he gave the appellation of 
Porto Bello, or the Fine Harbour.* 

— 1729. Expired, in exile, oppressed by accumulated 
misfortunes, Alexander Menzikoff, usually styled Prince 
Menzikoff. He was originally an apprentice to a 
pastry-cook near the palace of Moscow; but by a fortu¬ 
nate circumstance was drawn from that situation in early 
life, and placed in the household of Peter the Great. 
Having made himself master of several languages, and 
being formed for war and for business, he first rendered 
himself agreeable, and afterwards became necessary, to 
his royal master, whom he assisted in all his projects; 
and was rewarded for his services with the rank of 
prince, and the title of major-general. On the death of 
the Czar, in 1725, f he was active in bringing different 
parties in Petersburgh to agree to the succession of the 
Czarina Catharine,} by whom he was shortly raised to 
the summit of his elevation : but this was only the prelude 
to his fall; for, at the commencement of the next reign, 
(that of Peter II.,) his enemies procured his banishment 
into Siberia,§ whither he and his family, all dressed in 
the habit of peasants, were conveyed in covered waggons. 
As his origin was low, and his fall accelerated by impru¬ 
dence and ostentation, he has been sometimes paralleled 
with our Cardinal Wolsey.[| Menzikoff’s banishment 
was occasioned by his alleged ambition and avarice. It 
is not a little remarkable, that, when young Menzikoff 
and his sister were recalled to Moscow by the Czarina 
Ann, they left the chief persecutor of their family 
(Dolgorouki) in possession of their humble cottage at 
Berezow, on the river Oby, near Tobolsk ; he having, in 
his turn, fallen a sacrifice to the intrigues of the court. 

— 1810. Died the amiable Princess Amelia, youngest 
daughter of our late venerable monarch George III., a 
domestic calamity which is supposed to have been pro¬ 
ductive of a change in the government. The Princess, 
after enduring a tedious illness, and expecting, in vain, 
the renovation of her health, conceived a wish to present 
her royal father with a token of filial affection, previous to 


* See March 22, 1740, and Oct. 30, 1757. 
f See Jan. 28, 1725. } See May 17, 1727. 

§ See Oct. 16, 1767. _ [[ See Index. 



NOVEMBER. 


465 


that awful change which she conceived to be fast approach¬ 
ing. Accordingly, in an interview with his Majesty, she 
placed on his finger a ring, which had been expressly 
made for the purpose, accompanying the affecting* action 
with the impressive words “ Remember me” This ten¬ 
der scene proved too much for the agitated monarch, 
who was soon after attacked by the mental malady under 
which he had before laboured, and it became necessary 
to supply the deficiency in the executive branch of govern¬ 
ment by a Regency. 

The Princess Amelia was interred in the royal vault at 
Windsor. 

2, 1815. Expired, in London, in the 72nd year of his 
age, Dr. John Coakley Lettsom, an eminent physi¬ 
cian and a philanthropic man. By his demise charity 
lost one of her most zealous and successful advocates; 
our literary and medical societies an enlightened mem¬ 
ber and a generous benefactor, and the sick poor a phy¬ 
sician, whose humanity was ever ready to administer to 
their wants. Dr. Lettsorn was born in the little island 
of Van Dyke, near to Tortola, in the West Indies. He 
commenced his professional career under the auspices 
of the celebrated Dr. Fothergill, and attained the highest 
reputation and success in his profession. His writings, 
which are numerous, embrace a variety of interesting to¬ 
pics. His table of health is given in this work. (See 
April 18, 1802.) Dr. Lettsom belonged to that respect¬ 
able class of society called Quakers, and was interred in 
their burial-ground, in little Coleman Street, Bunhill 
Row. 

— 1-818. Sir Samuel Romilly expired at his house, in 
Russell Square, London, in a delirium, brought on by 
grief for the loss of an excellent wife, who died a few 
days before, at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, which 
armed his own hand against himself, and thus, in a fatal 
moment, deprived the world of one of its brightest or¬ 
naments. Sir Samuel Romilly was by profession a 
lawyer, and practised in the Court of Chancery. By 
his profound legal knowledge he attained a practice and 
an eminence superior to that of any other pleader of his . 
time. As an orator he was persuasive and impressive; 
as a scholar, learned; as a reformer, zealous, yet judici¬ 
ous ; and skilful as a politician. His parliamentary efforts 
were chiefly directed to the amelioration of our criminal 
code; he wished it to be written, not like the laws of 
Draco, in blood, but in “ the milk of human kindness.” 

x 3 


466 NOVEMBER. 

In all the duties of private life this excellent man was 
exemplary. 

Sir Samuel Romilly and his beloved wife were interred 
with great solemnity in the family vault of her Ladyship’s 
father, at Knill, in Herefordshire, near Presteign, in 
Radnorshire. 

3, 1534. Henry VIII. had the title of Supreme Head of 
the Church of England conferred on him; a distinction 
which our kings have ever since enjoyed. The title was 
conferred on him by the Pope, in consequence of his 
having written a book against Luther. But Bishop 
Hoadly* sets aside the notion of a visible head: Christ 
alone, according to that eminent and worthy prelate, is 
the Head of the Church; which position he maintained 
with great address, in a celebrated sermon before George 
I., on these words. My kingdom is not of this world; and 
in the several vindications of that able discourse. 

Let the unerring gospel be your guide ; 

Regard not man, in Christ, alone confide. 

Marriott's Essay on Female Conduct . 

Hoadly being at that time bishop of Bangor in Wales, 
the disputes occasioned by the above sermon were called 
the “ Bangorian Controversy.” Some eminent characters 
suffered death for denying the supremacy of Henry VIII. 
See June 22, and July 6, 1535. 

— 1580. Captain Francis Drake returned from his 
voyage round the globe, having been twelve days less 
than three years in performing it. See April 4, 1581. 

— 178/- Died Dr. Robert Lowth, bishop of London, 
born at Winchester, in 1/10, and well known for his 
“ First Institutes of Grammar,” and his “ Translation 
of Isaiah,” the sublimest poetry in the world. Dr. 
Lowth was buried in Fulham churchyard. 

— 1/97- Expired, at Norwich, to the deep regret of a 
large circle of friends, and the irreparable loss of a most 
affectionate family, the Rev. William Enfield, LL. D., 
minister of the Octagon Dissenting Congregation in that 
city, and a literary character of eminence. Perhaps, at 
the time of his decease, there was not in England, says 
Lis biographer,f a more perfect master of what is called 
the middle style in writing, combining the qualities of 
ease, elegance, perspicuity, and correctness, entirely free 
from affectation and singularity, and fitted for any sub- 


* See April 17, 1761. 


t Mon. Mag, Vol, IV. 




NOVEMBER. 


46/ 


ject. As a minister, he paid the most unremitting atten¬ 
tion to the perfection of his pulpit compositions. Of the 
moral qualities of Dr. Enfield, moderation, compliance, 
and gentleness, were eminently conspicuous; and the 
gradual approach of an incurable disorder gave him oppor¬ 
tunity to display all the tenderness, and more than the 
firmness, of his nature. He died amid the kind offices of 
mourning friends, and his last hours were peace! Dr. 
Enfield was born at Sudbury,* * in 1741. 

4, 1688. William, the brave Prince of Orange, is said 
to In.ve landed at Torbay, in Devonshire, and effected the 
Glorious Re volution. f A century’s enjoyment having' 
taught us the value of those rights which were then defined 
and secured, the hundredth anniversary of this happy 
event, in 1788, was celebrated with great magnificence at 
Wittington, Revolution-House, J Chesterfield, and through¬ 
out the kingdom in general.§ 

— 1671. Colley Cibber, an actor of great celebrity and 
a dramatic writer of considerable talents, was born in 
Southampton Street, London. “ The Careless Husband” 
has ever been considered as his best dramatic piece. Even 
Pope acknowledged its merit. Cibber having by some 
means offended Pope, that irritable genius pursued him 
through life with unceasing hostilities, seizing every op¬ 
portunity to annoy him with his irresistible satire. On 
his appointment to the Laureatship, by George II., Pope 
dethroned Theobald from his empire over dulness in the 
Dunciad, and inaugurated Cibber in his place. Cibber 
being a good-humoured man, one of those rare beings 
whose disposition Hume describes “ as preferable to an 


* See August 2, 1788. f See Arith. Quest. 

X See Arith . Quest. 

• § The Almanack-makers and other clironologers say, that King 
William landed on the fourth of November; but Dr. (afterwards 
Bishop) Burnet, who was himself with the prince, says ex¬ 
pressly, that it was the fifth ; and so says Archdeacon Echard, in 
his History of the Revolution (p. 160). They both observe, also, 
that the fourth was the birth-day of the prince, and also the day 
of his marriage. The former event took place at the Hague, - 
in 1650, and the latter in London, in 1677. See December 28, 
1694. 

Gilbert Burnet, bishop of Salisbury, was born at Edinburgh, 
in 1643, died in 1715, and was buried in St. James’s Church, 
Clerkenwell, London. He was the author of many esteemed 
works. See July 26, 1680. 



468 


NOVEMBER. 


inheritance of 10,000/. a year,” for many years endured 
these reiterated attacks with great forbearance; at length, 
roused from the natural moderation of his temper, he re¬ 
taliated on his antagonist by publishing two letters ad¬ 
dressed to Mr. Pope, with a frontispiece in which the 
wasp of Twickenham was represented in a most ludicrous 
situation. This publication threw Pope into agonies of 
passion, and is supposed in a great measure to have acce¬ 
lerated his death. The life of Cibber was prolonged in 
health and activity to his 86th year. On the 12th of 
December, 1757, his servant, who had been conversing 
with him at six o’clock in the morning, when he appeared 
in good health, returned to him at nine, and found him 
dead, with his head reclining on his pillow. This event 
took place at Canonbury, Islington. 

4, 1794. The Missionary Society held their first meet¬ 
ing to consult on the best means of disseminating Chris¬ 
tianity in Heathen countries. Their subsequent success 
has not only greatly exceeded the most sanguine expecta¬ 
tions of their friends, but completely subverted the un¬ 
favourable predictions of their adversaries. It has been 
well observed, that the prosperity which the Providence 
of Heaven bestows on such exertions as those employed 
in favour of this, and some other beneficent institutions 
recently established,* is a voice from the Father of 


* Particularly the Sunday-School,f the British and Foreign 
School, X and the British and Foreign Bible Societies. § The 
Associations in Dublin, London, and Edinburgh, for promoting 
the education of the poor in Ireland, are also, it is said, prose¬ 
cuting their grand object with great zeal and spirit. Nature, it 
is well known, has been very liberal to Ireland. The soil is fer¬ 
tile, and the climate mild; yet, through the almost incredible 
deficiency of education, the character of the native inhabitants is 
low, their circumstances wretched in the extreme, and the nume¬ 
rous natural advantages which they enjoy, are in a great measure 
lost. Their intellectual energies are cramped, their moral cha¬ 
racter depressed, their personal happiness obstructed, and the 
welfare of the state materially injured. Under these unpropi- 
tious circumstances, the most forcible considerations that can be 
addressed to the mind of man—humanity, justice, sound policy, 
patriotism, Christianity—all concur in calling loudly on Briton* 


t See the Introduction, and Raikes, Index. t See May 21, 1814. 

$ See Geo. Exer. on the JSiew Test., Conclusion of the Exposition of 
Religious Tenets. 






NOVEMBER. 


4G9 


Mercies, which says to every lingering 1 vestige of hostile 
feeling—in the gentle accents with which his beloved Son 
charmed the contending elements — Peace—be still! See 
Geo. Exer. on the New Test. No. 36. 

Mr. Montgomery aptly compares the Missionary work 
to the colours displayed and harmonized in the rainbow, 
forming an arch of glory—ascending, on the one hand, 
from earth to heaven, and on the other descending from 
heaven to earth—a bow of promise;* a covenant of peace; 
a sign that the storm is passing away, and the Sun of 
Righteousness, with healing in his wings, breaking forth 
on all nations. 

4, 1814. Union of Norway and Sweden. The King 
of Sweden, Charles XIII., was unanimously elected and 
proclaimed King of Norway, by the National Diet assem¬ 
bled at Christiania, a commercial city in the south of 
Norway. ^See August 20, 1589.) The two countries 
have been since termed the Scandinavian Peninsula. See 
August 21, 1810. 

5, The Latins honour Zacharias as a prophet, and the 
Greeks, September 5, as a priest, prophet, and martyr. 
The Roman martyrology joins Elizabeth with him. He 
was the father of John the Baptist, and husband to Eliza¬ 
beth. See Luke i. 5, 12, &c.; also June 24. 

— 1605. The Gunpowder Plot was discovered. It was 
an attempt to blow up James I. and the Parliament, with 
the view of establishing the Roman Catholic religion. 
See No. 104, Arith. Quest., and Holbeack, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer. 

-— 1725. Grateful Epitaph. To the memory of Mary 
Beach, who died November 5, 1725, aged 78; Alex. 
Pope, whom she nursed in his infancy, and constantly 
attended for thirty-eight years, in gratitude to a faithful 
servant erected this stone. See No. 542, Arith. Quest., 
art. Praise of Servants the highest Panegyric; also May 


to consider the state of the lower classes in Ireland, and to assist 
in the design of ameliorating their condition, by furnishing them 
with the necessary means of moral and religious instruction; the 
benefits of which have been long exhibited in a part of the Bri¬ 
tish empire— Scotland; —where, in consequence of this inesti¬ 
mable advantage, the lower classes have attained a measure of 
knowledge, of moral cultivation, and of intelligent industry, 
which is not found in the same rank of society in any other 
country in the world. 

* See Gen. ix. 13 j Arith. Quest, art. Rainbow; and Exer. on 
the Globes, art. Iris. 



470 NOVEMBER. 

30, 1/44, December 16, 1/98, and Twickenham, Bourn’s 
Gazetteer. 

6, 1753. Died, at London, Dr. James Foster, an emi¬ 
nent Dissenting 1 Minister, born at Exeter, September 16, 
1697. His natural abilities were superior to most; and 
he possessed a quick apprehension, a solid judgment, a 
happy memory, and a free, commanding elocution. His 
talent for preaching was, indeed, so rare and extraordi¬ 
nary, that nobody ever went beyond him for popularity 
in this respect. His Sunday-Evening Lecture in the Old 
Jewry, which he carried on above twenty years, was fre¬ 
quented by persons of every rank and station ; and Pope 
praised him for this quality in the subsequent lines : 

Let modest Foster, if lie will, excel 
Ten Metropolitans in preaching well. 

Dr Foster was not only a great, but a good man, in the 
best sense of the word. His humanity was remarkable; 
and his generous sentiments and compassionate sympa¬ 
thies were admired by all. He was perfectly free from 
every thing gross and worldly. His benevolence and cha¬ 
rities were so extraordinary, that he never reserved any 
thing for his own future use ; and had it not been for two 
thousand subscribers to his “ Discourses on Natural 
Religion and Social Virtue,” he would have died ex¬ 
tremely poor. 

— 1764. Charles Churchill, an English poet and cele¬ 
brated satirist, died at Boulogne, whither he went to visit 
his friend, the celebrated John Wilkes. He was buried 
at Dover. The satires of Churchill are distinguished for 
their sterling sense and morality. His epistle to Hogarth 
is supposed to have shortened the days of that eminent 
artist. The sportive satirist survived his victim only nine 
days. 

--Scarce had the friendly tear 

For Hogarth shed, escaped the generous eye 
Of feeling Pity, when again it flow’d 
For Churchill’s fate. 

See Oct. 25. 

1792. Battle of Gemappe. The French, commanded 
by Dumourier, obtained a victory over the Austrians at 
Gemappe, a village near Mons, in the Netherlands. The 
carnage on both sides was so great, that three coal-pits 
adjacent to the scene of action were filled up with the 
bodies of dead men and horses. 

1807* Died, at Rome, Angelica Kauffman, an emi¬ 
nent paintress, and Royal Academician in London, born at 



NOVEMBER. 


471 

Coire, the capital of the Orisons, in Switzerland, in 1740. 
She has been styled “ The Paintress of the Soulim¬ 
bued with sentiment, with tender and earnest passion, not 
merely the hand, but the heart* and the imagination ap¬ 
peared in her works. Her mental acquirements and 
moral conduct were no less distinguished than her talents 
as an artist. The funeral obsequies of this ornament of 
her sex were performed with great solemnity, and were 
highly picturesque. Several of the nobility, more than 
one hundred ecclesiastics in the habits of their different 
orders, and the members of the different literary societies 
at Rome, attended. Her pall was supported by young 
ladies dressed in white, and immediately after her body 
some of her best pictures were borne upon the shoulders 
of the mourners. 

6, St. Leonard. This benevolent man, having procured 
the liberation of some persons who were immured on ac¬ 
count of their religion, has been long invoked by prisoners 
in general, as their tutelar saint. He was educated at 
Rheims, department of Marne, province of Champagne, 
France, and died in the year 500. Were it at all allow¬ 
able for captives to implore a patron saint, Mr. Audley is 
of opinion, that Saint Howard should have the precedency 
of Saint Leonard. See Jan. 20, 1700, and Arith. Quest. 
10th edition, art. Howard. 

— 1612. Expired, in the 19th year of his age, Henry, 
Prince of Wales, eldest son of our King James I, and one 
of the most accomplished, learned, and pious princes of 
the age in which he lived; the glory of the nation, the 
admiration of strangers, and the darling of mankind. He 
manifested from his infancy courage, intrepidity, and a 
martial turn of mind; and excelled in all manly and gym- 
nastical exercises. His sentiments of piety were fervent 
and habitual, and he was firmly attached to the Protestant 
faith from a conviction of its truth. In his household, 
which was very numerous, he took the utmost care to 
preserve decency and regularity. Having a particular 
aversion to the odious and disgusting vice of swearing, 
and the impious or even thoughtless profanation of the 
name of God, he levied pecuniary fines on such of his de¬ 
pendents as were found culpable in those respects; and 


* Those painters cunning want to grace their art— 

Who draw but what they see, know not the heart. 

Shakspeare. 



472 


NOVEMBER. 


the mulcts thus incurred were distributed to the poor.* 
His own conduct, however, was so truly amiable and ex¬ 
emplary, that it infused harmony into his whole family, 
which, according to Mr. Joseph Hall,f was the most lov¬ 
ing and entire fellowship that ever met in the court of 
any prince. To his other eminent virtues Prince Henry 
added that of frugality without avarice, and generosity 
without extravagance: and he was styled “ The Mecaenas 
of all the learned.” 

6, 1632. Death of Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus 
Adolphus, King of Sweden, the most illustrious hero of 
his time, and the great supporter of the Protestant inter¬ 
est in Germany, defeated the Imperialists at Lutzen, 
near Leipsic, in’that country; but> like Epaminondas and 
Wolfe,| perished in the midst of a complete victory, 

“ And suuk lamented to an early tomb,” 

being only in the 38th year of his age. The death of the 
accomplished Gustavus effaced all the splendour of the 
victory; and a mournful silence, interrupted only by 
sighs, prevailed throughout the camp. On the spot where 
this hero fell in opposing Wallenstein, a number of un¬ 
hewn stones are placed horizontally on the earth in the 
form of a cross,§ and on one of them is rudely carved in 
German, “ Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, fell here 
for liberty of conscience.” Never was a king more es¬ 
teemed, more beloved, or more deplored. The Swedes 
and Protestants of Germany, England, France, Poland, 
Denmark, Switzerland, and Holland, equally bewailed 
him. None but the Emperor, the elector of Bavaria, and 
the King of Spain, rejoiced at his death; and they caused 
Te Deum to be sung at Vienna, Ratisbon, and Madrid. 
See Arith. Quest, art. Battle of Agincourt. 

— 1656. John IV., styled the Fortunate, king of Portugal, 
died at Lisbon. He was raised to the throne, in 1640, by 
a revolution which deprived Philip IV. of Spain of the 
country of Portugal, over which his ancestors had reigned 
about sixty years. He was affable, generous, and pacific, 
and so unambitious, that but for the aspiring spirit of his 


* See September 21, 1745. f See September 8, 1656. 

Z See Arith. Quest, art. Death of Wolfe, and Battle of Mantinea. 

§ Crosses were formerly erected on various occasions. See 
Exer. on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Crux. 



NOVEMBER. 473 

wife he would have died Duke of Braganza. See Bourn’s 
Gazetteer , Lisbon. 

6, 1817. Death of the Princess Charlotte. This 
afflictive event smote the nation with sudden gloom, like 
the visitation of darkness. It was an abrupt check given 
to all one’s ideas of youth, hope, and prosperity. The 
Princess Charlotte was so young, was so apparently 
healthy and happy, that for human nature’s sake alone, 
every body, who had any sympathy with his species, not 
only wished she might long so continue to enjoy herself, 
but had made up his mind that such would infallibly be 
the case. It was, however, the will of an all-wise but 
inscrutable Providence, to dash with bitterness those 
joyful feelings and flattering anticipations, and, at the 
early age of twenty-two, to snatch from the present world 
this most accomplished Princess, “ the expectancy and 
rose of the fair state,” who, to the rarest personal attrac¬ 
tions, added the more valuable qualities of the mind and 
heart. She had read much and with great discrimination, 
had sedulously cultivated religious habits, and was a strict 
observer of the Sabbath, as was likewise her illustrious 
and amiable consort, Prince Leopold. She was a most 
affectionate child; and, as a wife, was a model for her 
sex. She was fond of her husband, and looked up to him 
with the most perfect affection and respect; and he de¬ 
served it all. His influence over her was unbounded, 
though the exercise of it was of the gentlest kind. This 
youthful pair, in their private life, presented an image of 
conjugal felicity, of domestic comfort, of dignified retire¬ 
ment, which inspired all beholders with unbounded de¬ 
light. 

The exemplary conduct, the endearing sweetness of 
disposition, of fascinating condescension, the distinguished 
benevolence, and the extensive charities of the Princess 
Charlotte, will be venerated as long as those virtues 
shall continue to be dear to English hearts. 

“ Lamented Princess, round thy funeral urn, 

With genuine sorrow shall sad Britain mourn : 

In deep affliction, weep thy swift decline. 

Till ev’ry eye be seal’d in sleep like thine.” 

Claremont, the residence of His Serene Highness 
Prince Leopold, is a delightful spot not far from Kdngs- 
ton-upon-Thames, in Surrey. It is eulogized by Thom¬ 
son, in his delineation of Richmond Hill, where Clare- 


474 


NOVEMBER. 


mont and Esher are mentioned together. See November 
1.9, 1817, and Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

7, 1620. Was fought the famous battle of Prague,* in 
which Frederic, Elector Palatine, f son-in-law to our 
James I., and recently elected King of Bohemia, was 
totally routed by the Imperialists and Bavarians, and 
forced to flee with his queen and children into Holland; 
leaving all his baggage and money behind him. He was 
afterwards deprived of his hereditary dominions, and the 
Protestant interest was ruined in Bohemia; all owing to 
the pusillanimity and inactivity of King James, who 
seemed totally insensible to the voice of his people, the 
condition of his children, and the state of Protestantism, 
both at home and abroad. 

— 1665. The first Gazette in England was published at 
Oxford; the court being there at that time, on account 
of the plague.]; On the removal of the court to London, 
the title was changed to the London Gazette. The 
Oxford Gazette was published on Tuesdays, the London 
on Saturdays. The latter is now published on Friday. 
The word Gazette originally meant a newspaper, or 
printed account of the transactions of all the countries in 
the known world, in a loose sheet or half sheet; but the 
name with us is confined to that paper of news now pub¬ 
lished by authority. It derived its name from Gazetta, a 
kind of small coin formerly current at Venice, which was 
the usual price of the first newspaper printed there. 

— 1781. Inquisition. The last person who suffered 
publicly by the sentence of this infernal tribunal was a 
woman, who was burnt alive at Seville on the above day. 
Since that time the inquisition has gone to work more 
cunningly. Men are no longer publicly devoted to the 
flames, but they die unperceived in concealment. Llo- 
rente calculates, that the Inquisition alone, in the Spa¬ 
nish peninsula, under the uninterrupted dominion of 
forty-five grand Inquisitors, sacrificed 241,000 indivi¬ 
duals. To appreciate the misery occasioned by this, it 
must be borne in mind, that every condemnation was 
accompanied by confiscation of property, and the. dis¬ 
honour of the whole family. 


* See July 1, 1690, and Prague, Index. 

T See Arith. Quest, art. Palatinate. 

J See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Plague. 



NOVEMBER. 


4/5 


It appears from Llorente’s History of the Inquisi¬ 
tion, that the marriage of Charles II. and the niece of 
Louis XIV., was solemnized by an Auto-da-fe, in which 
the shrieks and the smoke of 118 human being's ascended 
to heaven, to propitiate the God of mercy and of love!! 

7, 1/89. Expired, in the 75th year of his age, the Rev. 
Joseph Fownes, a native of Andover, a place north¬ 
west of Winchester, in Hampshire. He united in him¬ 
self, in an eminent degree, the gentleman, the scholar, 
and the Christian minister. He was many years pastor 
of the Dissentiug' congregation in the High-Street, Shrews¬ 
bury, in connexion with the excellent Job Orton. (See 
July 19, 1783.) In 1772, when the body of Protestant 
Dissenting ministers united in an application to Parlia¬ 
ment for an enlargement of the Toleration Act,* Mr. 
Fownes directed his thoughts to that subject, and wrote 


* Among the blessings which endear the memory of King Wil¬ 
liam III., it should never be forgotten, that to him is due the 
first act of Toleration known in the history of this country; 
and the Dissenters have ever since enjoyed the benefits of it 
without interruption, though their liberties were greatly endan¬ 
gered in the latter end of Queen Anne’s reign. The Tory-fi 
party, having at that period gained great strength and influence 
at court, passed an iniquitous act called the Schism-Bill, which 
suffered no Dissenters to educate their own children. The death 
of the queen, the very day\ on which the infamous act was to have 
taken place, prevented the Dissenters from being again enslaved. 
George I., a firm friend to civil and religious liberty, procured 
a repeal of the odious Schism-Bill in the fifth year of his reign. 
A sacred respect to religious liberty was maintained, in like 
manner, throughout the next reign. When, about the year 1730, 
some bigots were taking steps towards the prosecution of Dr. 
Doddridge, in the ecclesiastical court, for keeping a seminary in 
which he educated Dissenting Ministers, information of the 
design was no sooner communicated to George II., than he 
ordered the proceedings to be stopped, declaring that he would 
not allow of any prosecution for conscience’ sake—a declaration 
which he is said to have bequeathed as a legacy to his successor, 
our late venerable monarch George III., by whom it was 
most honourably welcomed and fulfilled. The repeal of the dis¬ 
abling and penal statutes against Auti-trinitariaus, by the Prince 


+ Whig and Tory are popular terms of uncertain derivation. By the 
former is generally understood a friend to civil and religious liberty ; 
by the latter, the reverse. See Arith. Quest . 

X See August 1, 1714. 




476 


NOVEMBER. 


his celebrated “ Inquiry into the Principles of Tolera¬ 
tion.” This tract places the author’s abilities and cha¬ 
racter in a very favourable point of view; for, while clear 
and conclusive reasoning are urging their powerful claims 
to the reader’s assent, his approbation is insensibly won 
by the concomitant attractions of moderation and can¬ 
dour. Thus should religious controversies ever be con¬ 
ducted; and thus have a Locke and a Hoadly* * conducted 
them. It is not only the most becoming method in itself, 
but the one which best promotes the cause of truth and 
the happiness of mankind. Occasions may indeed arise, 
when bigotry and intolerance, assuming a daring aspect, 
require to be repressed with some severity and repre¬ 
hension. 

7, 1/90. Expired, John Thornton, Esq., of Clapham, 
Surrey, who had been long the greatest merchant in 
Europe, Mr. Hope, of Amsterdam, only excepted. His 
annual gains were of course immense; and the half of 
these, it is asserted, was generally expended in acts of 
genuine benevolence; in wiping away the tear from the 
eye of the unfortunate, in cherishing the victim of poverty 
and oppression, in diminishing, as far as possible, the 
sum of human woes, and in forwarding what must be the 
ultimate intention of Divine Providence, the happi¬ 
ness and prosperity of the whole human race. His cha¬ 
rities, indeed, almost transcend belief; they reached to 
the remotest parts of the habitable globe, and cheered the 
wretched of both hemisplieres.f In the vicinity of the 
metropolis in particular, his beneficence prompted him 
often to anticipate by minute personal inquiry the wishes 
of the distressed : 

“ He lov’d to seek the humble cot, 

To scatter comfort’s balms around, 

And heal pale poverty’s deep wound; 


Regent’s ministers, has not only enlarged the boundaries, but 
confirmed the empire of religious liberty in Britain ; a bless¬ 
ing which, under the Providence of God, we owe to the mild 
sway of all the princes of the House of Brunswick. See Penn, 
Index; and No. 141, Geo. Exer. on the New Test. 

* See April 17, 1761, Oct. 28, 1704, and Nov. 3, 1534. See 
also Toplady, Arminius, &c. Index. 

f Mr. Thornton was one of the principal promoters of the 
Gospel in foreign parts, and expended yearly upwards of ,£2,000 
in the distribution of religious books. See Arxth. Quest. 10th 
edition. 



NOVEMBER. 


4/7 

/ 

Drive sickness from the languid bed. 

Raise the lorn widow’s drooping head." 

In Ins moral character, Mr. Thornton constantly ex¬ 
hibited the virtues which do honour to humanity. He 
was a fond husband, a tender father, a sincere friend, and 
a devout Christian. 

8, A commemoration speech is annually made at Oxford 
in praise of Sir Thomas Bodley, a great patron of 
learning, and the founder of the Bodleian Library in that 
city. He was born at Exeter,* * * § in 1544, died in 1612, 
and was buried in the choir of Merton College, Oxford. 
The original collection of books was, we believe, com¬ 
menced by Humphrey, the good Duke of Gloucester. 

— 1226. Louis VIII., surnamed the Lion, died at Mont- 
pensier, province of Auvergne, department of Puy de 
Dome. 

— 1517- Ximenes, a famous Spanish statesman and car¬ 
dinal under Ferdinand and Isabella, died at Roa, on the 
Duero, Old Castile, and was buried at Alcala, where he 
had founded an university, and at which he had caused 
the first Polyglot Bible to be printed.f It is sometimes 
called the Compliitensinn Bible, Alcala being once called 
Complutum. He was a liberal patron of literature, and 
a munificent contributor to charitable institutions. 

— 1656. Was born at Haggerston, in the parish of Shore¬ 
ditch, near London, Edmund Halley, a most eminent 
astronomer, who co-operated with Flamsteed in com¬ 
posing his new catalogue of the stars. In 1676, at the 
age of twenty, he was deputed to Saint Helena, J to take a 
catalogue of the fixed stars which do not rise above our 
horizon.§ Under King William he was sent on several 


* This city has beeu the birth-place of several eminent and 
learned men. John Hooker, the celebrated antiquary, and Sir 
William Petre, privy-counsellor to Henry VIII., were natives of 
Exeter; as were likewise Thomas Yalden, a divine and poet; 
John Barcham, a divine and antiquary; Simon Ockley, an emi¬ 
nent orientalist; and William Jackson, a musical composer of 
very considerable talents, and author of several ingenious literary 
productions in prose and verse. He died in his native city, July- 
12, 1803, in the 74th year of his age. 

t See Nov. 1, note §, p. 462. 

X See August 18, 1502, and Exer. on the Globes , art. JNlaske- 
lyne. 

§ See Exer. on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Robur Caroli. 



478 


NOVEMBER. 


voyages, to observe the variations of the compass, and for 
other scientific purposes: 

Immortal Halley, thy unwearied soul 
On wisdom’s pinion flew from pole to pole. 

Th’ uncertain compass to its task restor’d, 

Each ocean fathom’d, and each wind explor’d : 
Commanded trade with ev’ry breeze to fly, 

And gave to Britain half the Zemblian sky. 

Cawthorn.* * * § 

Halley was the first person who made an accurate ob¬ 
servation of the transit of Mercury over the sun’s disk. 
He succeeded Flamsteedf at the Royal Observatory, in 
1719, died in 1742, and was buried at Lee, a village near 
Blackheath, in Kent. 

8, 1794. Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was taken by 
the Russians, and the struggling liberty of the brave 
Poles utterly annihilated. The action which preceded the 
surrender was extremely bloody: of 26,000 men, only 
2,000, it is said, escaped the savage fury of the brutal 
Russians, 14,000 being killed, and 10,000 taken prisoners. 
The sanguinary Suwarroff,+ the Russian general, acting 
like an exterminating angel, afterwards put no less than 
20,000 men, women, and children, to the sword in Praga, 
one of the. suburbs of Warsaw. 

9, Lord Mayor’s Day, or the inauguration of the chief 
magistrate of the city of London, the most remarkable 
of our civic shows, which, as it has been long annually 
continued, needs no description. This procession, until 
the year 1453, in the reign of Henry VI., was unamphi - 
bious ; but at that period. Sir John Norman, willing, 
like Cimon the Athenian, to triumph “both on land and 
wave,”§ caused a barge to be made at his own expense; 


* See Index. 

f See December 31, 1719. 

I Smvarroff died May 18, 1800. 

§ Receiving intelligence that the whole Persian fleet was an¬ 
chored at the mouth of the river Eurymedon, Cimon sailed thi¬ 
ther, and pursuing the enemy up the stream, where they endea¬ 
voured to take shelter, he destroyed all their ships ; and his men 
jumping on shore in pursuit of the Persian mariners, who had 
abandoned their vessels, they soon put them to flight, thus ob¬ 
taining a complete victory both by sea and land on the same 
occasion. This severe blow compelled the Persians to agree to a 
peace, the terms of which were as mortifying to them, as they 



NOVEMBER. 


479 


in consequence of which, the twelve companies had their 
several barges magnificently decked and trimmed, to at¬ 
tend upon him. The first mention of Mayor is in the 
reign of Henry II., A. D. 1189, and in 1215 John 
granted the citizens a charter to elect a Mayor themselves. 
The title was borrowed from the Norman Maire as well 
as the office. Henry Fitzalwyn was the first elected to 
that trust. He had been before Mayor, but only by the 
nomination of his prince. The title of Lord was annexed 
to that of Mayor in the time of Richard II. See But¬ 
ler’s Aritli. Quest. No. 263. 

9, 1624. Died at Chiselhurst, Kent, William Camden, 
an eminent antiquary, born in London, in 1551. His 
most celebrated work is “Britannia; or, an History of 
the Ancient Inhabitants of Britain; their Origin, Man¬ 
ners, and Laws.” But he was no less illustrious for his 
virtues than for his learning. In his writings he was 
candid and modest; in his conversation easy and innocent: 
and in his whole life exemplary. Learning is said to have 
been his only care and learned men the only comfort of 
his life. He was buried in the soutli aisle of Westminster 
Abbey, where his effigies are placed in white marble, and 
in his hand a book with “ Britannia” inscribed on the 
leaves. 

— 1677- Died, at Lambeth, in the 80th year of his age, 
archbishop Sheldon. He was presented to the vicar¬ 
age of Hackney, by Charles I., and was raised to the 
primacy on the death of archbishop Juxon. The Theatre 
of Oxford was built at his sole expense from the designs 
of Wren, and was the first public building erected by 
that able architect. It was opened July 9, 1669, but 
was never seen by its munificent founder. This prelate 
appears to have been more attached to the duties of mo- 


were honourable to the Grecians. The treasures taken in this 
expedition, Cimon laid out in beautifying his native city; and 
the Athenians gave examples in the art of architecture, that 
continue to be admired to this very day. He died while be¬ 
sieging Citium, in the island of Cyprus, 449 years B. C., in the 
51st year of his age. He was the son of Miltiades, whose 
honourable interment he most dutifully procured, by borrowing 
money to pay the enormous mulct which the ungrateful Athe¬ 
nians had laid upon that immortal hero. See Dr Goldsmith’s 
History of Greece , and Aritli. Quest. 

The Eurymedon is a river in Pamphylia, Asia Minor. See 
Geo. Exer. on the New Test. art. Pamphylia. 





480 


NOVEMBER. 


rality, than to the profession of any particular doctrine 
of religion: to young men of rank his advice was this, 
“ Let it be your principal aim to become honest men, 
and afterwards be as devout and religious as you please. 
No piety will be of advantage to yourselves or others, 
unless you are honest and moral men . ,y —This generous 
and charitable archbishop was buried at Croydon. 

10, The Greeks honour Erastus, who was St. Paul’s dis¬ 
ciple, and chamberlain of the city of Corinth, where the 
apostle was at that time.* * * § He resigned his employment, 
and followed Paul to Ephesus, where he was A. D. 56, 
whence he sent him to Macedon with Timothy. They 
were both with Paul at Corinth, A. D. 58, when he 
wrote his epistle to the Romans, whom he salutes in each 
of their names.f Some say that Paul left Erastus in 
Macedonia, and made him bishop there; and that he 
suffered martyrdom at Philippi: others make him bishop 
of Paneus,} near the sources of the Jordan, give him the 
title of apostle, place him in the number of the seventy 
disciples, and say he died in peace. 

— The Greeks keep the feast of Tertius, whom they make 
successor to Sosipater in the bishopric of Iconium.§ He 
was St. Paul’s amanuensis, when he wrote his epistle to 
the Romans, A. D. 58.|| It is conjectured that he is the 
same as Silas, who accompanied St. Paul in some of his 
journeys; Silas in Hebrew signifying the same as Tertius 
in Latin. 

— The Roman martvrology places the feast of Tryphena 
and Tryphosa, Christian women whom St. Paul men¬ 
tions, Rom. xvi. 12. It is said that they went to Rome 
to be serviceable to the saints, and to obtain a crown of 
martyrdom; but returned into the East, where their 
blood was spilt for Jesus Christ. 

— 1506. Pope Julius II., after besieging and taking 
Bologna, in Italy, made his triumphant entry into that 


* See Rom. xvi. 23. f Rom. xvi. 21, 23. 

X So denominated by Gentile writers from the adjoining spring 

Paneum, or Panion ; but in the Scriptures it is called Laish, 
Leshem, Lashah, and Dan. It was usually accounted the utmost 
northern border of the land of Israel, as Beersheba was the 
southern; whence the expression “ From Dan to Beersheba,” 
denoting the whole length of the Holy Land from North to South; 
and proverbially the extremities of any other district. See Canaan, 
in Wilkinson’s Atlas Classica , or Leigh’s Scripture Atlas. 

§ See Geo. Exer. on the New Test. || See Rom. xvi. 22. 



NOVEMBER. 


481 


city in a manner so very pompous and magnificent, that 
Erasmus, upon considering Julius as Christ’s vicegerent, 
and comparing his entry into Bologna with Christ’s entry 
into Jerusalem, could not behold it without the utmost 
indignation. Erasmus was also at Rome when the same 
pontiff made his entry into that city after the conquest 
of Bologna; and his entry offended him as much as that 
at Bologna had done: for he could not conceive, that 
the triumphs of the church, as they were called, were 
to consist in vain pomp and worldly splendour, but 
rather in subduing all mankind to the faith and practice 
of the Christian religion. 

11, Martinmas Day; derived, says Dr. Johnson, from 
Martin and Mass ; the feast of St. Martin, who lived in 
the fourth century, and was bishop of Tours, department 
of Indre and Loire, province of Touraine, France. Lard- 
ner calls him a wise and good man. 

The subsequent observation on this day is quoted from 
an ancient calendar of the Church of Rome: “ The 
Martina I'm, a genial feast. Wines are tasted of and 
drawn from the lees. The Vinalia , a feast of the an¬ 
cients, removed to this day. Bacchus in the figure of 
Martin.” That the early Christians either observed many 
of the Heathen festivals, or instituted others instead of 
them, we have fully shewn in the Eoser. on the Globes, 
art. Bacchus. 

— 1572. Tycho Brahe perceived a new star in Cassi¬ 
opeia, which continued without changing its place till 
the Spring of 1574, equal in spendour to Jupiter or 
Venus. At last it changed colour, and entirely disap¬ 
peared.* Nothing similar to this had been observed 
from the time of Hipparchus, who, in consequence of 
the appearance of a new star, was induced to compose 
his catalogue of stars, for the instruction of future ob¬ 
servers. He was born at Rhodes, and flourished at Alex¬ 
andria, between 160 and 125 years B. C., and was the 
first person who reduced astronomy to a system. 

— 1636. Cassini, the astronomer, observed the transit 
of Mercury over the sun’s disk, at Thury, a village S. of 
Caen, at forty-three minutes after ten in the morning. 
On Nov. 5, 1822, there was a transit of that planet at 
sixteen minutes past one in the morning, consequently it 
was not visible to our part of the world ; but it was visi- 


* See Exer.on the Globes, pp. 164, 464, and 478, 11th edit. 

Y 




482 


NOVEMBER. 


ble at Botany Bay at 20 minutes after 11 o’clock in the 
morning; for when it is night with us, it is noon, or 
nearly so, at Botany Bay. 

11, 1820. Died, at Felpham, near Arundel, in Sussex, 
William Hayley, Esq., a poet and miscellaneous 
writer. He was born at Chichester, in 1/45. His most 
valuable poem is ‘‘Serena, or the Triumphs of Temper.’ 
Mr. Hayley was the intimate friend and correspondent 
of the celebrated Cowper, and it was entirely by his 
exertions, through the medium of Earl Spencer, that a 
royal pension of <^300 per annum was obtained for the 
unhappy poet.* He was also for many years the patron 
of Romney the painter.f Hay ley’s Life of Cowper 
contains many of the poet’s letters, and perhaps a more 
delightful collection is not to be found in the English 
language; unstudied, and alike redundant of fancy, feel¬ 
ing, and thought. 

12, 1615. Was born at Rowton, near Shrewsbury, in Shrop¬ 
shire, Richard Baxter, a famous Nonconformist Divine, 
“ whose praise is in all the churches.” His long resi¬ 
dence and ministerial services at Kidderminster, in 
Worcestershire, not only conferred a distinction upon 
that town, but redeemed it from a state of gross ignorance 
and moral depravity. He was minister at that place from 
1642 to 1660, and found the people ignorant, dissolute, 
and irreligious; but they became, by the force of his 
labours and example, decent and pious. His industry as 
a divine was amazing: he wrote both in polemical and 
practical theology more than any writer of his age. It is 
said that his works amount to the number of 145 hooks, 
and that above60 were written against him. Dr. Barrow 
has given this eulogium of his works, that his practical 
writings were never mended, and his controversial ones 
never refuted; and bishop Wilkins said of him, that if he 
had lived in the primitive times, he would have been one 
of the fathers of the church. Baxter, however, in his 
own review of his life, candidly regrets that he mis¬ 
applied so much of his time in controversial writings. 
The character of his mind was in every respect as extra¬ 
ordinary as his industry, zeal, and piety : he was firm 
and disinterested. Mr. Bovle justly said of him, that he 
feared no man’s displeasure, nor hoped for any man’s 
preferment. He avowed his attachment to monarchy. 


* See April 25, 1800. 


+ See Nov, 15, 1802. 



NOVEMBER. 


483 


even to Cromwell in his highest elevation, and refused 
the bishopric of Hereford from Charles II., whose resto¬ 
ration he had promoted. Honoured with the esteem of 
the best and most learned men of that age, than which 
no one has produced a greater number of great and ex¬ 
cellent men, having enjoyed the honourable intimacy of 
Barrow, Boyle, Tillotson, Judge Hale, Sir John May¬ 
nard, bishops Wilkins, Patrick, and Burnet, and endured 
with fortitude and patient dignity the brutality of Judge 
Jefferies, he died in peace and universal veneration, at 
London, in 1691, and was interred in Christ Church, 
Newgate Street, London, whither his corpse was attended 
by a numerous company of persons of different ranks, 
and many clergymen of the Established Church. 

12, 1/15. The Scotch Insurgents, commanded by the 
Earl of Mar, were defeated at Sheriffmuir, near Dum- 
blane, in Perthshire; being the very day on which the 
rebel forces, in the same cause, were defeated at Preston, 
in Lancashire, and several persons of distinction taken 
prisoners. 

— 1750. Edward Bright, noted for having been one 
of the most corpulent men that ever existed, was buried 
at Malden, in Essex. See Arith . Quest. 10th edit, and 
June 21, 1809. 

13, 354. Was born at Banchor, now Bangor, in North 
Wales, Pelagius, who received a learned education in 
the monastery of his native place, to the government of 
which he was advanced in 404. He was long esteemed 
by St. Jerome and St. Augustine, till they discovered his 
heretical pravity, after which they wrote against him 
with the sharpest acrimony ; as they did also against his 
friend and pupil Celestius, a learned Scotsman, who de¬ 
fended his master’s opinions with uncommon zeal. Both 
Pelagius and Celestius were great travellers ; having visited 
many different countries of Asia and Africa, as well as 
Europe, with a view to elude the persecutions of their 
enemies, and to propagate their sentiments. See Geo. 
Ever, on the New Test., art. Pelagians. 

— 1093. Malcolm III., king of Scotland, was killed at 
the siege of Alnwick castle, in Northumberland. 

— 1312. Edward III. was born at Windsor. His reign 
commenced, on the deposition of his father, in January 
1327, which had been effected by the machinations of 
the intriguing Isabella, wife of Edward II., and her chief 
counsellor, Roger Mortimer. The young king soon after 
his accession, becoming acquainted with their infamous 

y 2 


484 


NOVEMBER. 


conduct, hanged Mortimer and imprisoned his mother. 
See Nov. 29, 1330. Edward was valiant, and munificent, 
but his wars in France, purely the result of his ambition, 
were unjust and unprofitable, though they have contri¬ 
buted to his fame. 

13, 1463. Prince Henry, the fifth son of John I., king 
of Portugal, died at Sagrez, about a league and a half from 
Cape St. Vincent, in his 6/th year. He was the first en- 
courager of remote navigation, and by his incitement, 
patronage, and example, distant nations have been made 
acquainted with each other, unknown countries have been 
brought into general view, and the power of Europe has 
been extended to the remotest parts of the world. His 
knowledge, prudence, and courage, secured the esteem of 
his contemporaries and the admiration of succeeding 
generations. His tomb is still seen, near his father’s, in the 
church of Batalha, in Estramadura. 

— 1553. Lady Jane Grey, Lord Guildford Dudley, 
her husband, Archbishop Cranmer, and the Lords am- 
brose and Henry Dudley, were taken from the Tower 
and arraigned for high treason,, at the Guild-hall, “ for 
having levied war against the queen, and conspired to 
set up another in her room,” to which charge they all 
pleaded guilty, and the sentence in consequence passed 
upon them was subsequently confirmed by attainder in 
parliament. 

Lady Jane appeared before her judges in all her wonted 
loveliness; her fortitude and composure never forsook 
her; nor did the throng and bustle of the court, the 
awful appearance of the seat of judgment, or the passing 
of the solemn sentence of the law, seem to disturb her 
mind: of their native bloom her cheeks were never 
robbed, nor did her voice seem once to faulter: on the beau¬ 
teous traitress every eye was fixed: and the grief that 
reigned throughout the whole assembly bespoke a general 
interest in her fate : indeed. 

Her very judges wrung their hands for pity: 

Their old hearts melted in ’em as she spoke. 

And tears ran down upon their silver beards. 

E’en her enemies were moved, and for a moment 
Felt wrath suspended in their doubtful breasts, 

And questioned if the voice they heard were mortal. 

Bayley’s Hist, of the Tower. 

See Feb. 12, 1554. , ' 

— 1690. Died, George Fox, the founder of Quaker- 


NOVEMBER. 


485 


ism,* * * § which has been defined to be an attempt, under 
the Divine influence, at practical Christianity, as far as 
it can be carried ; the professors of it considering them¬ 
selves bound to regulate their opinions, words, actions, 
and even outward demeanour, by Christianity, and by 
Christianity alone. And it is certainly true, that the 
whole society, as a body, have for a hundred and fifty 
years maintained the high character of a very moral and 
kind people ; and many of them have been bright exam¬ 
ples of the dove-like religion which they profess. 

George Fox was born at Fenny Drayton, near Hinck¬ 
ley, Leicestershire, in the year 1624. To propagate his 
system, he journeyed over England, Scotland, and Wales; 
was in Ireland; visited the [British West Indies and 
America; and extended his travels to Holland and part 
of Germany. In his manner of living he was temperate, 
eating sparingly; avoiding, except medicinally, all strong 
drink ; and allowing himself but little sleep. In his out¬ 
ward demeanour he was modest, affable, and courteous; in 
his disposition, meek and compassionate; kind to the 
poor, without any exception, and universiallv benevolent. 
With respect to his word, he was known to have held it 
so sacred,f that the Judges frequently dismissed him 
without bail, on his bare promise that he would be forth¬ 
coming on a given day, to take his trial for the charges 
brought against him by his persecutors. It is thought 
probable, that he was the first person who publicly de¬ 
clared against the iniquity of the Slave Traded and his 
followers have been long unanimous upon this subject. 
In his last moments he evinced great tranquillity and hap¬ 
piness of mind; affording an instance of the truth of 
these words of the Psalmist, “ Behold the upright, for 
the end of that man is peace.” See Penn, Index. 

J3,§ 17/1. Solway-Moss, a very extensive morass, burst 


* Justice Bennet, of Derby, gave the society the name of 
Quakers in 1650, because Fox admonished him, and those pre¬ 
sent with him, to tremble at the word of the Lord. They are 
known to each other by the name of Friends,—a beautiful appel¬ 
lation, and characteristic of the relation which man, under the 
Christian dispensation, ought uniformly to bear to man- Clark¬ 
son’s Portaiture of Quakerism; Butler’s E,ver. on New Test. 4th 
edit. 

f See July 18, 1374, and October 28, 1704. 

I See May 1, 1807, and May 8, 1811. 

§ This is the date in the Beaut, of Eng. and in the Gazetteer 
of Scotland; Walker’s Gaz. says Dec. 176*9, but the Ency. Brit. 



486 


NOVEMBER. 


its dark confines, and by a dreadful inundation over¬ 
spread a considerable portion of the adjacent district. 
The eruptive deluge consisted of a black mossy tincture, 
which, issuing from its subterraneous abode like a cata¬ 
ract of feculent thick ink, continued in streams of the 
same appearance, intermixed with large fragments of 
peat, till it had covered an area of five hundred acres, 
destroying in its awful passage several houses, numbers of 
cattle, and reducing twenty-eight industrious families to a 
state of complete indigence. 

The vast morass, 

Dissolv’d by floods, and swoln with mighty rains. 

Pour’d its black deluge o’er the neighbouring plains. 

Ah, see ! through yonder beauteous vale it spreads, 
Whelming at once a hundred fertile meads ; 

Then, bearing onward with resistless force. 

Sweeps herds and houses in its dreadful course ; 

Till Esk’s fair tide its loathsome billows stain. 

And roll with added fury to the main. 

Maurice. 

Solway Moss was situated near the river Esk, at the 
head of Solway-Frith, between Dumfriesshire, in Scot¬ 
land, and Cumberland, in England. The plain that was 
covered by the Stygian torrent has been since reclaimed, 
and again waves with the yellow harvest. This was ac¬ 
complished by the exertions of an illiterate Yorkshircinan, 
named Wilson, whose self-taught genius at once con¬ 
ceived the plan, and directed its execution. The parti¬ 
culars are related by Gilpin in his Essays on Picturesque 
Beauty, from which an extract is given in the Beauties of 
England, Vol. III. pp. 107, &c. 

14, 1532. Henry VIII. was privately married to Anne 
Boleyn. See May 19, 1536. 

— 163*8. Catharine, daughter of John IV. of Portugal, 
and wife of Charles II. of England, was born at Villa 
Viciosa, in the province of Alentejo, Portugal. See Jan. 
28, 1641, and May 21, 1662. 

— 1785. Their late Majesties visited Hurley, or Lady- 
Place, in Berkshire. During the reigns of Charles II. 
and his successor, some of the chief nobility held Re¬ 


states it to have happened on Saturday, the 16th of November, 
1771 ; and this, after minute investigation, we have reason to be¬ 
lieve is the day on which it actually occurred. See Gent. Mag. 
May, 1779. 



NOVEMBER. 


487 


quent meetings in a subterraneous cavern beneath this 
house, for the patriotic purpose of ascertaining the mea¬ 
sures necessary to be pursued for re-establishing the 
liberties of the kingdom, which the insidious hypocrisy of 
one monarch, “the worst of a bad race,” and the more 
avowed despotism of the other, had completely under¬ 
mined and destroyed. It is reported also, that the prin¬ 
cipal papers which produced the Glorious Revolution 
of 1688, were signed in the dark recess at the end of this 
vault.* These interesting circumstances occasioned the 
Prince of Orange, after he had obtained the crown, to 
visit this ever-to-be-venerated spot; as they did likewise the 
brave General Paoli,f in the year 1780, and our late 
monarch as above stated. 

14, 1804. Expired, in his 89th year, at Cvpenham, near 
Windsor, Jacob Bryant, a very learned writer on an¬ 
cient history and mythology; whose studies were chiefly 
directed to remove the doubts of the sceptic, and to 
soften the heart of the infidel; to substantiate the authen¬ 
ticity of the Scriptures, and to demonstrate the truth of 
the Christian religion. Pie was a native of Plymouth. 

15, 1315. Was fought the ever-memorable battle of Mor- 
garten, so glorious in the annals of Switzerland; when 
1300 Swiss heroes, full of confidence in the protection 
which Heaven would yield to the justice of their cause, 
and resolved to sell their lives at a dear rate, bravelv en- 
gaged 20,000 Austrian invaders, commanded by Duke 
Leopold I.,. whom they completely defeated. The heights 
of Morgarten (commanding the defile through which the 
enemy was to enter the territories from Zug) were for- 


* It must not, however, be forgotten, that many private con¬ 
sultations were held on the same interesting subject, at Whitting¬ 
ton, a village in Derbyshire, in a cottage which has been ever 
since denominated the Revolution-House. See Arith. Quest, art. 
Revolution, and Nov. 4, 1688. 

-f- Pascal Paoli was an heroic Corsican, who for some time 
supported his intrepid countrymen against the pernicious gold of 
the Genoese and the powerful arms of France; but at length the 
latter prevailed ; and in June 1769, he abandoned his native coun¬ 
try to its fate, embarked in an English ship for Leghorn, and soon 
after repaired to London, where he found ample protection and 
support from the British ministry. He died in the metropolis, 
Feb. 5, 1807, aged 82 years; and a bust, which, it is said, strongly 
resembles him, is placed in Westminster Abbey, with a suitable 
inscription. 




488 


NOVEMBER. 


tunately seized upon by the advice of Rodolfh Reding, 
of Schwitz, an experienced soldier, weakened indeed by 
age, but whose wisdom, patriotism, and skill, merited the 
confidence of his countrymen; and the issue of the con¬ 
test proved that their reliance was not misplaced. As 
this signal victory was gained in the canton of Schwitz, 
and the natives of that district particularly signalized 
themselves in the action, the two other cantons of the 
confederation (Uri and Underwalden) were from that 
time joined to it by the common name of Switzers; an 
appellation that has since been extended to all the other 
cantons and their allies, on their being received into the 
union. See June 22, 1476, July 9, 1386, Sept. 13, 1515, 
and Excr. on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Sagitta. 

15, 1577- Drake sailed from Plymouth on his voyage 
round the world, but a violent gale injuring some of his 
ships, they put into Falmouth, and sailed hence on Dec. 
13. See April 4, 1581, and Burney’s Discoveries in the 
South Sea, Vol. I. p. 305. 

— 1635. Died Thomas Parr, or Old Parr, a remark¬ 
able Englishman, who lived in the reigns of ten kings and 
♦jueens * He was born in 1483, at Winnington, eight 
miles from Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. Though he at¬ 
tained the vast age of 152 years and nine months, yet the 
tenor of his life admitted but of little variety. He was a 
husbandman, laboured hard, partook of coarse fare, and 
enjoyed good health, till he was sent for to London by 


* Viz. Edward IV., Edward V., Richard III., Henry VII , 
Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, Elizabeth, James I., and 
Charles I. 

In St. Michael’s churchyard, at Litchfield, an ancient tomb¬ 
stone was lately discovered, which had been buried in the earth 
a great number of years. Upon it are deeply cut the following 
inscriptions:— 


Here 

lyes the Body 


of WILLIAM CLARKE 
who was Clarke of 
this Church 51 years, 
and buried Match 25th, 
1525, and aged 96. 


Here 

lyes the Body of 
WILLIAM CLARKE, Clarke 
of this Church 71 
years, who died 
Septem. 26, 1562, 
and aged 86. 


The father lived in the reigns of six different kings, viz. Henry 
VI., Edwards IV. and V., Richard III., and Hetirys VII. and VIII. 
The son in seven reigns, viz. from Edward IV. to Mary I. 

Morning Chronicle , Oct. 8, 1822. 



NOVEMBER. 


489 


the Earl of Arundel. This journey proved fatal to him ; 
for, being 1 blind and decrepit, owing to the alteration in 
his diet, to the change of air, and to his new mode of life, 
he lived but a short time after his arrival, and presenta¬ 
tion to the king (Charles I.). He was buried in West¬ 
minster Abbey. The simple inscription of “Old Parr” 
is on his grave. See Jenkins, Index; and Arith. Quest. 
10th edit. 

15, 1715. Died, of a cancer in his face, at Battersea, 
his birth-place, Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke. 
He was secretary of state in the reign of queen Anne, 
and had the principal concern in settling the peace of 
Utrecht. At the accession of George I., he was deprived 
of his office, and his papers seized; in consequence of 
which he went to France, where he became secretary to 
the Pretender. Upon this an act of attainder was passed 
against him. In 1723 he received the king’s pardon, but 
without a reversal of the act of attainder, so that he re¬ 
mained excluded from the House of Lords. 

— 1802. Expired, at Kendal, in Westmoreland, George 
Romney, so eminent a painter as to have been once 
considered the rival of Sir Joshua Reynolds ; and he was 
the subject of the late Mr. Hayley’s first poetical pub¬ 
lication, “ A Poetical Epistle to an Eminent Painter.” 
Romney was born at Dalton, in Furness, Lancashire, 
Dec. 15, 1734, and was originally bred to his father’s 
business of a cabinet-maker.* He was buried in the 
churchyard of his native town, but has a monumental in¬ 
scription in Kendal church. 

— 1813. Counter-Revolution in Holland occurred; 
when, amid the loudest acclamations of Orange Boven , 
or Up with Orange, the Dutch people dismissed their 
hateful oppressors, the French, and sent to England for 
a prince of their old House to govern the nation. Wil¬ 
liam, prince of Orange, made his public entry at the 
Hague on the 3rd of December. His present title is 
William I., King of the Netherlands (Holland and Bel¬ 
gium). See Jan. 15, 1795. 

16, 1272. He nry III. expired at St. Edmundsbury, in 
Suffolk, according to Hume—at Westminster, according 
to Rapin, in the 64th year of his age and 56th of his 
reign. Henry was of the Plantagenet line. He reigned 


* See Memoirs of him by the late Mr. Cumberland, in Europ. 
Mag. Vol. XLIII. p. 417. 

y 3 



490 


NOVEMBER. 


a longer period than any other British sovereign, except 
his late Majesty George III. He was interred in West¬ 
minster Abbey. He was meek, humane, and pious, but 
his capricious temper and his desire of arbitrary power 
occasioned him much trouble during his reign. 

16, 1589. James VI. of Scotland attended divine worship 
at Tonsberg, south of Christiana, in Norway ; a circum¬ 
stance which the inhabitants of that town thought it worth 
their while to record on a plate of brass, in the church 
where the service was performed. See May 17, 1590, 
and Aug. 20, 1589. 

— 1745. Died, at Bath, William Broome, an English 
divine and poet, born in Cheshire, but in what year is not 
known. He materially assisted Mr. Pope in the transla¬ 
tion of Homer’s Odyssey \ having executed the 2nd, 6th, 
8th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th, and 23rd books, besides writ¬ 
ing all the notes. He also translated some of the Odes of 
Anacreon, and published a Miscellany of Poems. 

— 1773. Died Dr. John Haw kesworth, a writer of a 
very soft and pleasing cast, born in 1715. He published, 
in 1752, 3, and 4, his well-known periodical Essays, under 
the title of the “ Adventurer,” in which he was occasion¬ 
ally assisted by the Rev. Joseph Warton,* and others. 
He also published an edition of Swift’s Works, and an 
elegant translation of “ Telemaclius.” The last work he 
was employed in was, to digest the Southern Voyages, of 
Commodore Byron, and Captains Wallis, Cartaret, and 
Cook. The profits of this work being resigned to him by 
government, in satisfaction for his trouble, he sold the 
property for the extraordinary sum of 6,000/., but died in 
a few months after the publication; as it is supposed, of 
chagrin at the ill reception of his narrative, for he was a 
man of the keenest sensibility. On a handsome marble 
monument to his memory, at Bromley, in Kent, the place 
of his nativity, is an inscription, which, besides the usual 
particulars, contains the following affecting monitory lines 
taken from the last number of “ The Adventurer 

“ The hour is hasting, in which whatever praise or censure 
I have acquired will be remembered with equal indifference.— 
Time, who is impatient to date my last paper, will shortly 
moulder the hand which is now writing it in the dust, and still 
the breast that now throbs at the reflection. But let not this 
be read as something that relates only to another; for a few 


* See Feburary 23, 1800. 



NOVEMBER. 491 

years only can divide the eye that is now reading from the 
hand that lias written.” 

What tho’ we wade in health, or soar in fame, 

Earth’s highest station ends in “ here he lies;” 

And “ dust to dust” concludes her noblest song. 

Young. 

16,17/6. Died, in London, James Ferguson, an extra¬ 
ordinary phsenomenon of the self-instructed kind, parti¬ 
cularly in the astronomical and mechanical branches of 
science. This “ heaven-taught” philosopher was born in 
1/10, near Keith, in Bamffshire, Scotland; his parents 
being in low circumstances, he followed the occupation 
of a shepherd for a considerable time. 

■-honour’d Shepherd of our later days ! 

Whom from our flocks, while thy untutor’d soul, 

Mature in childhood, traced the starry course, 

Astronomy, enamour’d, gently led 
Through all the splendid labyrinths of Heaven ; 

And taught thee her stupendous laws. 

Eudosia. 

About the year 1744 he came to London, and had the 
honour of being elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 
without paying for admission (a favour scarcely ever con¬ 
ferred on a native); and had a pension of 50/. per annum 
given him, unsolicited, by the king, at his accession, who 
had heard lectures from him, and frequently sent for and 
conversed with him on curious topics. He was a man of 
the clearest judgment, and the most unwearied applica¬ 
tion to study; benevolent, meek, and innocent in his 
manners as a child; humble courteous, and communica¬ 
tive; instead of pedantry, philosophy seemed to produce 
in him only diffidence and urbanity, a love for mankind 
and for his Maker; his whole life was, indeed, an exam¬ 
ple of resignation and Christian piety. 

— 1797- Died Frederick William II., nephew of the 
Great Frederick, whom he succeeded in 1786. In 1792 
he put himself at the head of the coalition of princes 
against France, and invaded that country, but was the 
first to make peace with the revolutionists. In 1793 he 
agreed with the empress Catharine to make a division of 
Poland. He was a weak and voluptuous prince, and by 
his extravagance exhausted the treasures amassed by his 
predecessor. 

1/, 1307. The founders of the Helvetic Liberty met at 
Grutli, or Rutli, on the evening of this day to concert 



492 


NOVEMBER. 


measures to carry into execution their project of eman¬ 
cipating their country from the domination of Austria. 

17, 1558. Died the sanguinary and tyrannical Queen Mary, 
in the 43rd year of her age, and the 6th of her reign. She 
was the daughter of Henry VIII., by Catharine of Arra- 
gon. Possessed of a bad temper and a narrow under¬ 
standing, she proved during her short reign a violent, 
malignant, revengeful bigot. 

— 1632. Expired Frederick V., elector Palatine. The 
Protestants of Bohemia had elected him their king in 
1619, but Ferdinand of Austria, to whom the kingdom 
had been previously given, raised an army against him, 
and totally defeated him in the battle of Prague. He was 
driven from his kingdom and from his electorate, and 
died at Mentz, a few days after hearing of the death of 
Gustavus Adolphus, at Lutzen. See January 13, 1662; 
November 7, 1620; and November 6, 1632. 

— 1796. Death of the Empress of Russia. On this 
day expired, at Petersburgh, Catharine II., Empress of 
Russia, in the 68th year of her age, and 34th of her reign.* - 
This extraordinary personage has been justly considered 
as one of the most consummate tyrants in female form 
that ever threatened the liberties of mankind. Actuated 
by no principle of virtue, ambitious of an unlimited power, 
crafty, and resolute in her policy, she affected to consider 
the oppression of surrounding nations as a duty that she 
owed to her own empire; the aggrandisement of which 
was attended with wanton tyranny and refined barbarities; 
and rivers of human blood were made to flow from that 
horrible spirit of revenge which was ever conspicuous in 
the councils of Catharine. Painful indeed must be the 
feelings of the historian who details with fidelity the mas¬ 
sacres at Ismael and at Praga, for there are certain degrees 
of human depravity, creative of sensations which no tongue 
can express and no language describe. 



— 1818. Expired at Kew Palace, in the 75th year of her 
’ age. Queen Charlotte, consort of our late venerable 

sovereign George III. Her Majesty was born 1744, at 
Mecklenburgh Strelitz, in the north of Germany; married 
in 1761, and enjoyed a conjugal felicity of more than half 
a century. She was interred in the new royal cemetery at 
Windsor. 

— 1823. Died at Almondell, near Edinburgh, Thomas 


* See May 2, 1729. 





NOVEMBER. 


493 


Lord Erskine, aged 75. At the age of 14 lie be¬ 
came a midshipman in the navy, but soon quitted the 
naval service and entered into the army as an ensign. 
This service he also quitted in about six years, and com¬ 
menced the study of the law. In this profession he arrived 
at the greatest eminence, and for his unrivalled eloquence 
has been styled the English Cicero.* He was the fearless 
advocate of Trial by Jury and of the Liberty of the 
Press. 


And long as liberty the soul delights, 

And Britons cherish and maintain their rights, 

Long as they love their country’s sacred cause. 

And prize the safest bulwark of their laws, 

So long shall be with freedom’s loud acclaim, 

“ Trial by Jury” linked with Erskine’s name. 

The Bar; a Poem. 

18, 1518. Cortez sailed from the island of Cuba, in the 
West Indies, to conquer Mexico. 

— 1647- The celebrated Peter Bayle was born at the 
village of Carla, department of Arriege, and south of 
Toulouse, in the department of Upper Garonne, France. 
His extensive erudition and depth of thought clothed, in 
a most elegantly-polished diction, excite general praise. 
He published many works: among others, an excellent 
treatise on toleration, in which he exclaims against the 
gross intolerance and virulent spirit of persecution in the 
Church of Rome. But the work which would alone 
have rendered him immortal is his “ Historical and Criti¬ 
cal Dictionary.” Few writers have contributed more to 
remove ancient prejudices and enlighten mankind than 
Bayle. He died at Rotterdam, in 1706. Bourn’s Ga¬ 
zetteer. 

— 1824. On this and several successive days an almost 
unprecedented hurricane did considerable damage on the 
coast of England, and in various places inland. In Russia, 
the river Neva rose to an unusual height, overflowing its 
banks and occasioning considerable injury to the city of 
Petersburgh. 

19, 1600. Charles I. was born at Dumfermline, Scotland. 
See Jan. 30, 1649, and Feb. 9, 1649. 

— 1703. Expired, in the Bastile at Paris, after an impri¬ 
sonment of 24 years, a remarkable personage, universally 


* See Arith. Quest. No. 285. 




494 


NOVEMBER. 


known by the appellation of The Iron Masque (Masque 
De Fer), or Man ivith the Iron Masque * He was so 
denominated because it was at first believed, that the mask 
which he was compelled, on pain of instant death, to wear 
constantly, was made entirely of iron. The Masque was 
made of black velvet strengthened with whalebone, and 
fastened behind the head with a padlock. He was con¬ 
fined for imperious reasons of state, from the year 1661, 
till the time of his death, but was always treated with the 
utmost deference and respect. The first place of his 
“durance vile” was Pignerol, a few miles from Turin; the 
second was in the Isle of St. Marguerite, near the coast of 
Provence; and lastly, he was conveyed, in the year 1698, 
to the Bastile. The extraordinary circumstances of this 
unfortunate person form an historical problem which has 
occasioned much inquiry, given rise to numerous conjec¬ 
tures, and at various times excited in a particular manner 
the curiosity of the public. The most ingenious and plau¬ 
sible reasoning appears in favour of his having been either 
a twin-brother of Louis XIV., or a son of Cardinal Maza- * 
rine by Anne of Austria (the dowager queen of Louis 
XIII. and mother of Louis XIV.), to whom it is conjec¬ 
tured the cardinal was privately married. The substance 
of all that we have seen published on this mysterious sub¬ 
ject is judiciously condensed under the article “ Mask” 
in the Ency. Brit. In the Diary of an Invalid, published 
since the article in the Ency. Brit, above referred to, it is 
conjectured, that Foucquet, a statesman in the time of 
Louis XIV., was the Masque De Fer; and in a recent 
publication by J. Delort, ably abridged in the New Series 
of the Monthly Review, a Count Matthioli, secretary of 
state to Charles III., duke of Mantua, is supposed to have 
been the victim. Agar Ellis, Esq., has also published an 
interesting narrative proving Matthioli to have been the 
prisoner. 

19, 1789. The junction was completed between the Severn 
and the Thames; a vessel having passed from the former 


* A Novel entitled the Royal Captive, founded on this story, 
was published by Mrs. Yearsley, the celebrated Bristol Milk¬ 
woman. This self- instructed votary of the muses died at Melk- 
sham, in Wiltshire, on the 8th of May, 1806. She possessed an 
extraordinary degree of genius, united to abilities and information 
rarely found in the obscure path of life in which she originally 
moved ; and her poems breathe the genuine spirit of poetry. 



NOVEMBER. 


495 


to the latter river, in the presence of an immense con¬ 
course of spectators, who came from all the circumjacent 
parts of the country on the occasion. This navigable 
canal, which begins near Stroud and proceeds to Lechlade 
in Gloucestershire, where the union takes place, forms a 
line of communication, by means of other canals, between 
several of the midland counties and the metropolis, which 
is of the greatest importance to the commerce of the 
country. See July 14, 1766. 

1.9, 1817. The Princess Charlotte* was consigned to 
the tomb—a heart-rending, irreparable event, which called 
forth a manifestation of genuine, general, and spontane¬ 
ous lamentation, unparalleled in the history of this country. 
Scarcely was there an individual who did not appear in 
deep mourning; all business was suspended; the shops 
were shut up; public offices were closed; and in nume¬ 
rous churches, chapels, and Dissenting meeting-houses, 
discourses suitable to the melancholy and lamentable 
occurrence, were delivered to crowded audiences, whose 
dejected countenances strongly depicted their intense 
sorrow. 

The nation shewed by its acute grief upon this occasion, 
that it is capable of the highest and most disinterested 
affection for the family of its rulers; but it is not for the 
trappings of royalty that they have this veneration; this 
tribute is reserved for virtue. It is well known that the 
Princess, exclusive of her private virtues, was sincerely 
attached to the constitutional liberties of the country. 

The remains of the Princess Charlotte were depo¬ 
sited in the Royal Dormitory adjoining to the east end of 
St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. This mausoleum contains 
also the bodies of the Princess Amelia, (see Nov. 2, 
1810,) and of the Duchess of Brunswick, mother of 
the late Queen Caroline, consort of his present Majesty. 
The Duchess died in 1813. His late Majesty George III. 
and his Queen Charlotte were also interred here. See 
Nov. 17, 1818, and Jan. 29, 1820. 

— 1817- Passiflora Princeps. “ It has rarely fallen 
to our lot,” say the authors of the Botanical Cabinet , “ to 
present our friends with a more elegant subject than this; 
interesting also as being the first time of its flowering in 
this country, to which it has very lately been brought from 
Rio Janeiro. The plant from which we made our drawing 


* See November 6, 1817. 



496 


NOVEMBER. 


was in the highest perfection on the very day when the 
late amiable Princess, the hope of her country, was con¬ 
signed to the tomb. Her Royal Highness was an admirer 
of the beauties of nature; and the peaceful and happy 
course of life she so wisely chose, must have had a ten¬ 
dency to cherish such a taste. We feel a sort of mourn¬ 
ful pleasure in paying this tribute of our unfeigned respect 
by dedicating a magnificent plant to her memory.” 

The Passiflora Princeps is No. 84 in the Botanical 
Cabinet, an ingenious work published monthly by 
Messrs. Loddiges and Sons, whose names are known and 
their skill acknowledged in every part of the civilized 
world.* Their horticultural establishment at Hackney is 
enriched with a delightful assemblage of curious and scarce 
plants from the remotest regions of the globe: and with 
flowers so numerous, so diversified, and so rich, as to form 
an eternal spring, a terrestrial paradise, affording a balmy 
entertainment for the senses, cheering the soul, and in¬ 
spiring the heart with “ vernal delight and joy.” See 
Sept. 1, 5508 B. C. 

Unconscious of a less propitious clime, 

There blooms exotic beauty, warm and snug, 

While the winds whistle, and the snows descend. 

-foreigners from many lands, 

They form one social shade, as if conven’d 
By magic summons of th’ Orphean lyre. 

The sight is pleas’d, 

The scent regal’d, each odorif’rous leaf, 

Each op’ning blossom, freely breathes abroad 
Its gratitude, and thanks them with its sweets. 

COWPER. 

20, 870. St. Edmund, King of East Anglia, (comprehend¬ 
ing Norfolk, Suffolk, and part of Cambridgeshire,) was 
murdered by the Danes, who had him fastened to a tree 
and shot to death with arrows. His remains were interred 
at St. Edmund’s-Bury, (usually called Bury,) which was 
so denominated from this circumstance. See Ewer, on the 
Globes, 11th edit. art. Sagitta, and Arith. Quest. 10th edit, 
art. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. 


* Mr. Loddiges died on the 13th of March, 1826, aged 88. 
He was a native of Germany. (See Herzberg, Bourn’s Gazet¬ 
teer.) He pursued his botanical researches with unremitting 
zeal, and was affectionately and ably assisted by his sons from 
their childhood. He was buried in Hackney Churchyard. 






NOVEMBER. 


497 


20, 1497. The Cape of Good Hope was doubled by Vasco 
de Gama. See July 9, 1497; Dec. 24, 1525, and Sept. 
16, 1795. 

— 1500. Columbus arrived at Cadiz from his third voy¬ 
age to the New World. 

— 1737- Expired, Queen Caroline,* the pious con¬ 
sort of George II., in the 55th year of her age, deeply 
regretted as a princess of uncommon sagacity, a pattern 
of conjugal virtue, and an eminent instance that 

“ Mental fragrance still will last. 

When youth and youthful charms are past.” 

It is well remarked by Pope, that one of the best post¬ 
humous testimonies of the Queen’s amiable character 
was given by her domestic servants—that of unfeigned 
tears and.it appears from a recent publication, the 
Correspondence of the Countesses of Hartford and Pom- 
fret, who were ladies of the bedchamber to the Queen, 
that they were much attached to their royal mistress, 
whose death they both speak of in their letters in terms of 
sincere regret. 

— 1759. Hawke’s Victory. The renowned admiral 
Hawke gained a complete victory over the French, in 
the Bay of Quiberon, near Belleisle, on the western coast 
of France. This most perilous and important action 
defeated a projected invasion of Great Britain. Sir Ed¬ 
ward soon after was granted a pension, and the great merit 
he had so long displayed in the service of his country was 
finally rewarded by a peerage under, the title of Baron 
Hawke, of Towton, in Yorkshire. He was buried at 
Stoneham, near Southampton. 

21, 1579. Died of apoplexy. Sir Thomas Gresham, at 
his mansion in Bishopsgate Street, and was buried in the 
church of Great St. Helen’s. He bequeathed his house 
to be converted into a college on the demise of his wife, 
endowed with a revenue for the support of seven pro¬ 
fessors. This house has been levelled with the ground, 
and the Excise Office erected on the site. The building 
of the first Royal Exchange was planned and executed 


* The first edition of that admirable and useful work, Cru- 
den’s Concordance of the Holy Scriptures, was dedicated to 
Queen Caroline, and was presented to her majesty on the 3d day 
of the month in which she died. 

f See Arith, Quest, art. Servants. 




498 


NOVEMBER. 


by this munificent citizen. See Ar'ith. Quest. 10th edit. 
No. 3J4, and Bourn’s Gazetteer, art. Holt. 

21, 1640. On this day, John, Duke of Braganza, was 
proclaimed King of Portugal. He recovered the inde¬ 
pendence of that kingdom, which had been annexed to 
Spain by Philip II., in 1580. The present royal family 
of Portugal derives its origin from the above Duke. Bra¬ 
ganza is in the province of Tralos Montes, and on the 
river Sador. Bourn’s Gazetteer , 3d edit. 

— 1783. The Marquis d’Arlandes and M. Pilatrk 
Rosier made the first unconfined aerial voyage to Paris, 
in a machine called a Montgolfier , in honour of the in¬ 
ventors, and to distinguish it from balloons filled with 
inflammable air. The two brothers, Montgolfier, who 
discovered the use of rarefied air in floating balloons, 
were paper-makers at Annonay, in the department of 
Ardeche. This discovery was made in 1782. See June 
14, 1785. 

22, The Sun enters the constellation $ , Sagittarius, the 
Archer. See Exer. on the Globes. 

— Is the day on which the martyrologies mention the 
name of Philemon, a rich citizen of Colosse, in Phry¬ 
gia. He was, it is conjectured, converted to the Chris¬ 
tian faith, with Apphia his wife, by Epaphras, a disciple 
of St. Paul’s; for this apostle himself did not preach at 
Colosse. Perhaps we should have known nothing of 
Philemon, had it not been on account of his slave One- 
simus, who, having robbed him, and absconded to Rome, 
there found St. Paul, to whom he was very serviceable, 
and by whom he was converted, baptized, and sent, back 
to Philemon, with a most admirable epistle.* Philemon 
had made a church of his house, and his domestics, as 
well as himself, were of the household of faith. His cha¬ 
rity, liberality, and compassion, were a refuge to all in 
distress. Some say, that Paul made him Bishop of 
Colosse; others insinuate, that he went to Gaza, in Pa¬ 
lestine, of which he was the apostle and first bishop. 
From thence, it is said, he returned to Colosse, where he 
suffered martyrdom, with Apphia his pious consort, in 
the time of Nero. 

— St. Cecilia is honoured as a martyr. She is said to 


* Dr. Doddridge calls it a master-piece of the kind ; combining 
at once delicacy of sentiment, consummate address, and genuine 
politeness. See Arith. Quest, art. Servants. 




NOVEMBER. 


499 


have excelled so eminently in music, that an angel was 
enticed from the celestial regions by the fascinating 
charms of her melody;* and this hyperbolical tradition 
has been deemed sufficient authority to make her the 
patroness of music and musicians. The legend of St. 
Cecilia has, moreover, afforded occasions to painters and 
sculptors to exercise their genius in representations of 
her, playing on the organ, and sometimes on the harp. 
Raphael has painted her singing, with a regal (a musical 
instrument) in her hands. Sir Joshua Reynolds’s well- 
known St. Cecilia at the harpsichord, is a portrait of the 
late beautiful Mrs. Sheridan,f accompanied by her two 
sisters, the Misses Linley. The story of St. Cecilia, as 
related by the writers of the Romish Church, and from 
them transcribed into the Golden Legend,;}; says, that she 
was a Roman lady, born of noble parents about the year 
225 ; and that, being converted to Christianity, she died 
a martyr to her religion, rather than continue her sacri¬ 
ficial offerings to the Pagan deities in that city. Some 
affirm that she was thrown into a cauldron of boiling 
water, and scalded to death; others assert, that she was 
stifled in a dry bath, i. e. an inclosure, from which the 
air was excluded, having a slow fire underneath it; a 
kind of death that was occasionally inflicted by the Ro¬ 
mans upon women of quality who were criminals. See 
Dryden, Index. 

22, 1/74. Died, suddenly, Robert Lord Clive, an emi¬ 
nent East-India Governor, and a striking instance of the 
insufficiency of wealth or external honours alone to con¬ 
fer happiness. He was born at Morton-Say, near Dray¬ 
ton, in Shropshire, about seventeen miles from Shrews¬ 
bury; and while he was a colonel in the service of the 
East-India Company, retook Calcutta from the Nabob 
Surajah Dowlah, defeated that execrable tyrant’s im¬ 
mense army in the Plains of Plassy, and thereby laid the 
foundation of the present extensive British empire in 
Hindostan. See Arith. Quest. art. Calcutta ; and Miscell. 
Quest . in Eng •. Hist. 


* See Exer. on the Globes, 11th edit. art. Lyra. 

f This accomplished lady was remarkable for her fine musical 
talents ; and the celebrated John Wilkes once said, that she was 
“ the most modest, pleasing, and delicate flower he had ever 
seen.” She was married to the late Mr. Sheridan in 1773, and 
died in 17112. See July 7, 1816. 

X A legend is a chronicle or register of the lives of the saints. 




500 


NOVEMBER. 


Plassy Plains, in Bengal, are about thirty miles from 
Moorshedabad, and seventy from Calcutta. See Rajah- 
Mahal and Muxadavad, Bourn’s Gazetteer , 

23, The Latin martyrologies set down the festival of Cle¬ 
ment, mentioned by St. Paul as having his name in the 
book of life,* and placed by some among those saints 
who sacrificed their lives for Jesus Christ. Some ima¬ 
gine, that he succeeded Peter as Bishop of Rome ; others 
maintain, that he was a priest of the church of Philippi, 
and a fellow-traveller of St. Paul. His letter to the 
Corinthians, which was much esteemed by the ancients, 
and often read in the early Christian Churches, is still 
extant. 

— 1499. Perkin Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn, after 
having occasioned Henry VII. considerable trouble, by 
personating the Duke of York, who had been murdered 
in the Tower in the preceding reign. He attempted first 
to land at Deal, but was deterred by some of his men 
being opposed, defeated, and slain : he afterwards landed 
at Whitsand Bay. See Miscell. Quest, and Bourn’s 
Gazetteer, Beaulieu, Deal, and Whitsand Bay. 

— 1804. Expired, in a green old age,f Richard Graves, 
fifty-two years Rector of Claverton, near Bath, born in 
1715, at Mickleton, in the north-east part of Gloucester¬ 
shire. He was the author of several books ; and a few 
months before his death, when nearly ninety years of 
age, he published “ The Invalid, with the obvious Means 
of enjoying Life, by a Nonagenarian.” Mr. Graves was 
the intimate friend of the poet Shenstone, and wrote the 
verses inscribed on his tomb. See Feb. 11, 1763. 

— 1805. Died John Olding, banker, in Freeman’s 
Court, Cornhill, London. His character, though shaded 
by his habits of retirement, and in itself not marked by 
those qualities which lead to general fame and distinction, 
was yet pre-eminent in the circle of his connexions for 
every thing which renders a man estimable in his family 
and in society. In the one, he was the centre of domestic 
order, affection, and happiness; in the other, his memory 
will be long cherished with high respect and pleasure by 
the few who enjoyed his friendship, and with a grateful 


* See Philipp, iv. 3. 

f He look’d in years, yet in years were seen 
A youthful vigour, and autumnal green. 

Drvden’s Virgil. 




NOVEMBER. 


501 


recollection by the many who partook of his bounty: for 
many were the persons whom his care delivered from 
want; many were the hearts which were freed from pain, 
and the faces which were cleared from sorrow, by his 
liberality. Jn business he was punctual, frank, consci¬ 
entious, and rigidly honest; in a word, his entire conduct 
being formed upon the model of the Gospel, was con¬ 
sistent and exemplary. He possessed considerable 
powers ot conversation, and eminently excelled in the 
art of giving to it a profitable direction, without wounding 
the feelings or awakening the prejudices of those who 
were not prepared for such a bias. We deem such a 
character as this peculiarly worthy of being exhibited to 
survivors; because it is not, like many others which are 
held up to the admiration of mankind, too far removed 
from the common sphere to admit of imitation. Mr. 
Olding was the son of the Rev. John Olding, of Deptford. 
See October 7, 1/83. 

24, 15/2. Expired, at Edinburgh, aged 67, John Knox, 
the famous Scotch Reformer. The earl of Morton, who 
was present at his funeral, pronounced his eulogium in 
a few words, the more honourable for Knox, as they 
came from one whom he had often censured with pecu¬ 
liar severity: “ Here lies he who never feared the face 
of man.” He was born at GifFard, near Haddington. 
(See Bourn’s Gazetteer .) A monument to his memory 
has been erected in the Merchant’s Park, Glasgow, and 
is spoken of as a great ornament to that city. Literary 
Gazette , Feb. 25,1826. 

— 1639. Transit of Venus. The first transit of Venus 
over the sun’s disk ever observed, was seen by Jere¬ 
miah Horrox, at Hool, an obscure village fifteen miles 
north of Liverpool; and at the same time, according 
to his directions, by his friend William Crabtree, at 
Manchester. Horrox died in 1641, in the 23d year of 
his age. 

Him to the earth scarce shewn, inclement Fate 

Withdrew, as meriting a higher sphere. 

Eodosia. 

He wrote an account of his observations, which was pub¬ 
lished several years after his death, under the title of 
Venus in Sole visa , or Venus seen in the Sun, by Heve- 
lius, an astronomer of Dantzic; and his other writings, 
by Flamsteed, in the Philosophical Transactions, 1675. 


502 NOVEMBER. 

See Eccer. on the Globes, 11th edit. p. 361, and June 3, 
1769. 

24, 1694. Expired, at Lambeth Palace, near London, in 
the 65th year of his age, Dr. John Tillotson, Arch¬ 
bishop of Canterbury, born at Sowerby, in the West 
Riding of Yorkshire, where his father was a clothier. As 
a preacher, he was extremely popular: and his sermon 
delivered at St. Paul’s in 1663, and published the ensuing 
year, “ On the Wisdom of being Religious,” is judged to 
be one of the most elegant, perspicuous, and convincing 
defences of religion, in either the English or any other 
language. During the reigns of Charles II. and James 
II., he directed all his efforts against Atheism and Popery. 
King William, by whom he was greatly beloved, and who 
declared him to be the best man he ever knew, and the 
dearest friend he ever had, promoted him to the see of 
Canterbury, which he held with a brilliant reputation, 
though continually assailed by Nonjurors* and Catholics 
until his death. His works have been often printed, and 
are still much read, notwithstanding the vast change in 
the public opinion respecting their eloquence.f This 
distinguished prelate was buried in the church of St. Law¬ 
rence Jewry, near Guildhall. His funeral sermon was 
preached by the celebrated Dr. Gilbert Burnet. 

— 1751. Died, in London, George Graham, who was 
not only the most eminent clock and watch maker, but 
the best mechanic of his time; and whose wonderful 
manual dexterity enabled him to construct ’astronomical 
instruments with greater precision and accuracy than any 
of his contemporaries. He was born at Gratwick, in 
Cumberland, and was many years a member of the Royal 
Society. 

— 1759. Happened one of the most violent eruptions of 
Mount Vesuvius ever known. It took place suddenly, 
without any of the usual preceding symptoms. 

— 1790. Expired Dr. Robert Henry, minister of one 
of the churches in Edinburgh, and author of “The His¬ 
tory of Great Britain, on a new Plan.” He was a native 
of St. Ninian’s, a town in Stirlingshire, Scotland. 


* Non-jurors were persons who, conceiving James II. to have 
been unjustly deposed, refused to swear allegiance to those who 
succeeded that bigoted tyrant. 

t See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Tillotson. 



NOVEMBER. 


503 


25, 1542.* The Scotch army, under the command of 
Oliver Sinclair, received a shameful defeat from a 
small number of English, in the vicinity of Solway-Moss.f 
Sinclair was the minion and favourite of James V; and 
being proclaimed general on the field, the appointment 
gave so much offence to the Scottish nobility, that they 
preferred an immediate surrender to a handful of enemies, 
rather than fight in the cause of a monarch who had 
treated them with such contempt. The whole Scotch 
army was either taken or dispersed; a disastrous event 
which, it is said, brought the king to his grave. See 
Bourn’s Gazetteer, 3d edit. 

— 1/48. Died, in his 75th year. Dr. Isaac Watts, a 
learned and most eminent Dissenting minister, born at 
Southampton. It may be questioned whether any author 
before him ever appeared with equal reputation on such a 
variety of subjects, both in prose and verse, as he did. 
As a philosopher, as a logician, and as a divine, his works 
are in the highest esteem; and as a poet, he displays in 
his “Lyrics” a skilful ear and active fancy, a mind well 
stored with knowledge, and a heart full of piety and good¬ 
ness. His “ Version of David’s Psalms,” adapted to the 
language of the New Testament, is too well known to 
require comment. 

In his natural temper, Dr. Watts was quick of resent¬ 
ment ; but, by his established and habitual practice, he 
was gentle, modest, and inoffensive. His tenderness ap¬ 
peared in his attention to children and to the poor. To 
the poor, while he lived in the family of his friend. Sir 
T. Abney, he allowed the third part of his annual reve¬ 
nue ; though the whole was not a hundred pounds a-vear: 
and for children, he condescended to lay aside the 
scholar, the philosopher, and the wit, to write little poems 
of devotion, and systems of instruction, adapted to their 
wants and capacities, from the dawn of reason through its 
gradations of advance in the morning of life. In his 
theological works, the meekness of his opposition, and 
the mildness of his censures, were admired by Dr. John¬ 
son, who concludes his sketch of his life, by observing, 
that few men have left behind such purity of character, 
or such monuments of laborious piety : and, that he is one 


* Rapin. Some writers state this event to have taken place 
November 23, 1540 ; others, on the same day in 1543. 

t See November 13, 1771. 



504 


NOVEMBER. 


of the few with whom youth and ignorance may be safely 
pleased; and happy, he adds, will be that reader whose 
mind is disposed by his verses or his prose to copy his 
benevolence to man, and his reverence to God.—Dr. 
Watts died in Church Street, Stoke Newington, at the 
house of his worthy friend Sir Thomas Abney, with whom 
he had resided upwards of thirty years. He was interred 
in Bunhill Fields, which, from the number of eminent 
Nonconformist divines whose remains it contains, may be 
called the Westminster Abbey of Dissenting Ministers. 

25, 1774. Died, aged 70 years, Henry Baker, F. R.S., 
author of “The Microscope made easy,” “The Uni¬ 
verse,” and many other admired poems. He married the 
youngest daughter of Daniel De Foe. See Sept. 1, 1651. 

— 1785. Died Richard Glover, an eminent English 
merchant, an able and steady patriot, and a celebrated 
poet. He wrote an epic poem of considerable merit, 
entitled “ Leonidas ,” detailing the gallant actions of that 
great general, his heroic defence of, and fall at, the pass 
of Thermopylee. The whole history of mankind, says 
Dr. Southey, furnishes no other subject so animating or 
so ennobling.* He wrote also “Boadicea,” and “Me¬ 
dea,” tragedies. Mr. Glover was born in 1711. 

— 1795. Stanislaus, King of Poland, resigned his crown 
at Grodno, and his kingdom was partitioned between 
Austria, Russia, and Prussia. See Feb. 11, 1798. 

26, 1120. Prince William, son of Henry I., was ship¬ 
wrecked near Barfleur. 

— 1504. Isabella, Queen of Castile, the munificent 
patroness of Columbus, died at Medina del Campo, in 
Leon, Spain. On her marriage with Ferdinand V., King 
of Arragon, they took the title of king and queen of 
Spain. The title of Catholic was bestowed upon them by 
Innocent VIII., and confirmed to their successors by 
Alexander VI. This title was conferred upon them on 
account of their zeal for the Catholic religion and their 
establishment of the Inquisition in Spain. Ferdinand 
died in 1516. See Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Spain, note. 

— 1703. Began what is usually called “The Great 
Storm,” being the most terrible tempest that ever hap¬ 
pened in England. The loss sustained in London alone 
was calculated at a million sterling. The number of those 
drowned in the floods of the Severn and Thames, and of 


* Specimens of Later English Poets, in 3 vols. 



NOVEMBER. 505 

those who were lost on the coast of Holland, and in ships 
blown from their anchors and never heard of afterwards, 
is thought within compass to have been 8,000. Trees 
were torn up by the roots. A person affirmed, that he 
counted 1 7,000 of this description in Kent. Eddystone- 
lighthouse was destroyed,* and in it the ingenious con¬ 
triver of it, Winstanley, and the people who were with 
him. Bishop Kidder and his lady were killed at Wells, 
in Somersetshire. Multitudes of cattle were also lost: 
in one level, 15,000 sheep were drowned. In short, this 
was one of the most violent tempests recorded in history 
since the general deluge, f 

To preserve in the minds of serious people, and to 
awaken in the breasts of the inconsiderate, a proper sense 
of the hand of God, as it was displayed in this most tre¬ 
mendous storm, a Mr. Tayler instituted a yearly reli¬ 
gious service at the meeting-house in Little Wild Street, 
Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, where a sermon is still preached on 
the 2/tli of November, to commemorate the direful 
event. 

27, 1788. Expired, at Watfield, or Watchfield, near Bury, 
in Suffolk, the Rev. Thomas Harmer, a Dissenting 
Minister, distinguished for his great attainments in Orien¬ 
tal literature, and for his skill in the study of antiquities. 
His most valuable performance was “Observations on 
divers Passages of Scripture, 5 ’ in 4 vols. 8vo. This highly 
entertaining and useful work treats professedly on a sub¬ 
ject of the first importance, which had before been 
touched upon only incidentally; and which, by shewing 
at large the conformity between the ancient and modern 
customs in the East, has not only thrown considerable 
light upon many obscure passages in the Bible, but has 
opened new and fruitful sources of information for the 
use of future expositors, J by proving how well the Scrip- 


* See October 9, 1759 ; and Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Eddy- 
stone. 

f An ample relation of its direful effects by sea and land is 
given in the City Remembrancer, Vol. II. pp. 43—187. 

% In mentioning Mr. Harmer, say the editors of Calmet’s Dic¬ 
tionary of the Bible,§ we embrace the opportunity of paying a 
tribute of respect to that gentleman’s memory ; he has done much 
toward turning the attention of the public into a right channel; 


k See October 25, 1757. 
Z 




506 


NOVEMBER. 


tures might be illustrated by the accounts of travellers. 
It would, however, be doing' great injustice to Mr. Har- 
mer, to confine our attention to the fruits of his learning 
alone. As the whole purpose of his studies was to eluci¬ 
date the Sacred Volume, so it was his constant endeavour 
to practise those duties which are therein enjoined upon 
the true Christian. He was a man of unaffected piety: 
equally kind as a master, parent, and husband; meek and 
modest in his deportment; and invariably averse from 
every degree of intemperance and excess. All these vir¬ 
tues, which he so pre-eminently possessed, were still 
heightened by the character of a peace-maker, insomuch 
that the usual language of every injured person in his 
neighbourhood was, “ / will apply to Mr. Hartner.” 

Peace to the mem’ry of a man of worth, 

A man of letters, and of manners too— 

Of manners sweet as virtue always wears. 

When gay good-nature dresses her in smiles. 

Cowper.* * 


we desire to be understood as very, very sensible of his merits, 
and under obligations to him. 

* The great object of Christianity is, to diffuse among men 
love and harmony. Such a conduct will render us truly useful 
on earth, and form the best preparation for the happiness of 
eternity. The excellent Gilbert West, a steady Churchman,’!' 
observes, in a letter to Dr. Doddridge, that the appellation of 
peace-maker is infinitely more honourable than that of pastor, 
archbishop, bishop, patriarch, cardinal, or pope, and attended 
with a recompense infinitely surpassing the richest revenues of 
the highest ecclesiastical dignities. 

Dr. Cotton Mather established a society of peace-makers at 
Boston, whose professed business it was to compose differences 
and prevent law-suits. See February 13, 1728, and December 
25, 1676. 

The above laudable institution was, no doubt, founded in imi¬ 
tation of that excellent, pacific body of Moralists, called Friends, 
or Quakers, who, ever since the time of their founder, George 
Fox, have settled their differences by the interposition of persons 
belonging to their own society, without an appeal to the law. 
See November 13, 1690, and Clarkson’s Portraiture of Qua¬ 
kerism. 

It is said of Ferrari, the celebrated historiographer of Milan, 
in Italy, that he was so remarkable for the sweetness, serenity, 
and affability of his temper, and had so happy a way of concili- 


+ See March 26, 1756. 




NOVEMBER. 


507 


28. The Latins honour Sosthenes as a disciple of St. Paul; 
the Greeks keep his feast December 8, and call him an 
apostle, as being, they say, one of the Seventy. They 
also make him the first bishop of Colophon.* He was 
the chief of the synagogue at Corinth when the Jews 
carried Paul before the tribunal of Gallio, the proconsul,f 
and, according to some, is the same Sosthenes whose 
name is read with that of St. Paul, 1 Cor. i. 1, written 
from Ephesus, A. D. 56, three years after this scuffle at 
Corinth. 

— 1530. Expired, in Leicester Abbey, “ broken by the 
storms of statef that “great child of honour,” Cardinal 
Wolsey, prime minister to Henry VIII. His distin¬ 
guished abilities, aided by fortunate circumstances, raised 
him from an obscure situation to the highest offices in 
Church and State; and he had for a long time the dis¬ 
posal of the most lucrative situations, both political and 
ecclesiastical. 

To him the church, the realm, their pow’rs consign ; 

Through him the rays of regal bounty shine. 

Dr. Johnson. 


ating persons who were exasperated against each other, that he 
acquired the title of “The Reconciler, or Pacificator;” a glorious 
epithet, which had been long before applied to Atticus, a Roman 
knight .X Mr. Kyrle, the Man of Ross, has been eulogized by 
Twickenham’s Bard for possessing the same conciliating dispo¬ 
sition. 

Was there a variance ? Enter but his door, 

Balk’d were the courts, aud contest was no more. 

Pope. 

* Colophon was a town of Ionia, in Asia Minor, near Ephesus, 
at a small distance from the sea, and was one of the seven cities 
which disputed for the honour of having given birth to Homer. 
See Arith. Quest, art. Homer, Printing, and Troy. The Colo¬ 
phonians were remarkable for their poetical fame.. 

Ionia has been always celebrated for the salubrity of the cli¬ 
mate, the fruitfulness of the soil, and the genius of its inhabitants. 
Of this number were Homer, Mimnermus, Nicander, and Xeno- 
phanes. See Lempriere’s Diet.; also Exer. on the Globes, art. 
Miletus, p. 1, for several others. 

f See Acts xviii. 17. 


t See Bunyan, Index; and Exer . on the Globes, lltH edition, art." 
Atticus ; also Arith. Quest, art. Man of Ross. 

z 2 





508 


NOVEMBER. 


“ He touched the highest point of greatness but liis 
puerile and extravagant ambition to be Pope ;* his in¬ 
sufferable pride; “ the world of wealth which he had 
drawn together for his own ends;” his political delay of 
Henry’s divorce; and the wiles of his enemies, occasioned 
his disgrace; he was stripped of all his employments, 
banished from the royal presence, and apprehended for 
high treason. Having “at last, with easy roads, come to 
Leicester,” on his way from York to London, death 
-saved him from farther humiliation, and he “ slept in 
■peace” In his last agony he regretted that he had not 
served God as diligently as he had served the king, sub¬ 
joining, that ‘‘He would not have forsaken him in his 
grey hairs.” 

With age, with cares, with maladies oppress’d, 

He seeks the refuge of monastic rest: 

Grief aids disease, remember’d folly stings. 

And his last sighs reproach the faith of kings.*f* 

Wolsey, with all his faults, was a magnificent character. 
The revenues derived from his places are said to have 
equalled those of the sovereign; and he expended them in 
a manner not less magnificent; “for in bestowing he was 
most princely” His suite consisted of 800 persons, in¬ 
cluding in it several gentlemen, and even persons of noble 
blood. He built the palace of Hampton Court, and York 
Place, afterwards called Whitehall. He was not only a 
scholar himself, “ a ripe and good one,” but he was the 
munificent patron of learning; 

-witness for him 

Those twins of learning that he rais’d in you, 

Ipswich and Oxford. J 


* Love and meekness 

Become a Churchman better than ambition. 

Shakspeare’s Aphorisms. 

f Somewhat similar to this w r as the indignant remark of 
Strafford, Earl of Wentworth, when informed of his impending 
doom : “ He started up,” says Hume* “and exclaimed, in the 
words of Scripture, Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons 
of men ; for in them there is no salvation.” See May 12, 1641. 

t Cardinal Wolsey founded a college at his native place, Ips¬ 
wich, which, however, “ fell with himand that splendid col¬ 
legiate establishment Christ Church at Oxford owes its origin to 
this celebrated minister. 







NOVEMBER. 


509 


28, 1813. The Rev. Samuel Palmer died at Hackney, 
in the 73d year of his age, and the 51st of the exercise 
of his ministry in that populous and respectable village. 
Having himself been a cordial lover of good men of every 
denomination,—an affectionate friend, and a beneficent 
neighbour,—his death was consequently attended by the 
genuine regret of a great number of Christian churches, 
the unfeigned tears of a numerous circle of friends, and 
the respectful remembrance of an extensive neighbour¬ 
hood. He was distinguished through life by a clear un¬ 
derstanding, a solid judgment, and a sound, discriminating 
talent. Hence his treatment of sacred subjects was re¬ 
markably perspicuous; his discourses being ever charac¬ 
terized by a vein of instructive, serious, scriptural good 
sense. They were, indeed, the addresses of a wise and 
pious pastor, seriously conversing with his surrounding 
fiock, and reasoning teeth them out of the Scriptures. His 
theological sentiments were distant from all extremes; 
according, for the most part, with those of the excellent 
Dr. Doddridge, whose character and memory he highly 
revered. Benevolence, sincerity, and diligence, were 
moreover prominent features in Mr. Palmer’s character. 
His heart was always disposed to commiserate, and his 
hand was ever ready to relieve the distresses of the indi¬ 
gent. His integrity was not less conspicuous than his 
benevolence: being an Israelite indeed , in whom was no 
guile. His numerous publications,* in addition to his 
ministerial labours, fully demonstrate his industry. Nor 
were his exertions confined to his study, his pen, or his 
pulpit; he was chosen, in several instances, as a trustee 
to institutions of general importance; as a distributor of 
public charities, and as the almoner of the bounty of 
others. He was also the father of the Sunday-Schoolsf 
established in Hackney, and the zealous friend of others 


* Mr. Palmer was a Master in Dissenting Israel. His “ Pro¬ 
testant Dissenters’ Catechism” is a valuable little work, calcu¬ 
lated to ground young persons in the principles of Dissent; it 
forms a good precursor to the Rev. Micaiah Towgood’s able 
production entitled, “A Dissent from the Church of England 
fully justified.” Mr. Palmer also edited an edition of Calamy’s 
Nonconformists’ Memorial. A volume of Mr. Palmer’s Sermons 
was published after his death. All his works have one leading 
character—a tendency to usefulness. 

f See Raikes, Index. 



510 


NOVEMBER. 


of a similar tendency. Mr. Palmer was a native of Bed¬ 
ford, and was interred at Hackney, in the burying-ground 
adjacent to his meeting-house, and formed out of his own 
garden. See the Rev. T. N. Toller’s Funeral Sermon 
for Mr. Palmer; and the Oration delivered at his inter¬ 
ment, by his highly respected successor, the Rev. Henry 
Foster Burder, M. A. 

29, 1330. Mortimer, Earl of March, was hanged on a 
gibbet at the Elms, in the neighbourhood of London. 
He had a criminal intercourse with Isabella, the consort of 
Edward II., an infamous woman, who first deserted, next 
invaded, then dethroned, and lastly caused that unfortu¬ 
nate monarch to be inhumanly murdered in Berkeley 
Castle, Gloucestershire: * a complicated scene of guilt, 
in which Mortimer had been a principal actor. Edward 
III., in the 18th year of his age, had this insolent minion 
seized in Nottingham Castle, (into which the king’s asso¬ 
ciates were admitted by a subterraneous passage,) and 
conducted to London, where he was immediately con¬ 
demned to death by the Parliament. The Queen Dowager 
was confined for the remainder of her life, which was 
twenty-eight years, to her own house at Castle Rising, 
near Lynn, in Norfolk. See Bourn’s Gazetteer , 3d 
edit.. Mis. Quest, in Eng. Hist., and Nov. 13, 1312. 

— 1489. Was born Margaret, the eldest daughter of 
Henry VII. She was married, in 1502, to James IV. of 
Scotland, who received from Henry, as her dowry, 30,000 
nobles.f James VI., the great grandson of this marriage, 
united the British crowns one hundred years after, al¬ 
though Henry VIII., Margaret’s brother, by his will ex¬ 
cluded her descendants from the succession to the throne 
of England. 

— 1628. Was born, at Black Notley, near Braintree, in 
Essex, the Rev. John Ray, whose father pursued the 
humble occupation of a blacksmith but perceiving that 
his son possessed genius, he sent him to school at Brain¬ 
tree, and thence to Cambridge, where he became distin¬ 
guished for his great skill in natural history, and particu¬ 
larly in botany; which grew into a favourite study, and 
was pursued with particular avidity, from his example. 


* See Arith. Quest. 

f A noble is equal to 6s. 8 d. Butler’s Arith. Tables, p. 5. 

I See July 28, 1540, and Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Demos¬ 
thenes. 



NOVEMBER. 


511 


He died at his native place in 1706, in his 78th year, and 
was buried in the churchyard, where a monument was 
erected to his memory, at the expense of Henry Comp¬ 
ton, Bishop of London.* The following lines are ex¬ 
tracted from his epitaph: 

A high descent lent nothing to his fame ; 

Virtue, not birth, distinguish’d his great name. 

Of every Science, ev’ry part he kuevv ; 

Read in all arts, divine and human too ; 

Like Solomon, and Solomon alone 
We as a greater king of knowledge own. 

Our modern sage dark nature’s secrets read, 

From the tall cedar to the hyssop’s bed;f 
From the unwieldiest beast of laud or deep, 

To the least insect that has power to creep. 

Mr. Ray was the author of many esteemed works ; the 
most popular is, “ The Wisdom of God manifested in 
the Works of the Creation.” 

29, 1780. Died, at Vienna, the celebrated empress of Ger¬ 
many, and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Maria 
Theresa. She was born in 1717, married Francis of 
Lorraine, Duke of Tuscany, in 1736, and ascended the 
throne on the death of her father, Charles VI., in 1740. 
On her elevation she was assailed by the king of Prussia 
and the elector of Bavaria, but after many hard-fought 
battles, and with the assistance of England, she triumphed 
over her enemies. In the coalition which began in 1756, 
Prussia was assisted by Great Britain. She was the great¬ 
est princess and the most amiable woman of her time, and 
paid a particular regard to the rules of justice even in 
politics, if her participation in the first infamous partition 
of Poland be excepted. Her affection for her husband 
was manifested by her conduct after his death, and her 
care of her children was the theme of universal panegyric. 
(See Inspruc and Vienna, Bourn’s Gazetteer.') The 
empress was interred in the imperial vault of the Con¬ 
vent of the Capuchins at Vienna, where her father, 
Charles VI., her husband, Francis I., and the emperors 
Leopold I., Joseph I., and Leopold II., are also interred. 
Reichard’s Itinerary of Germany. 

— 1798. Was a day of thanksgiving for Lord Nelson’s 
victory of the Nile. (See August 1, 1798.) The tablet 
of the sculptor, the marble of the statuary, may , and the 


* See July 7, 1713. 


f See 1 Kings iv. 33. 




512 


NOVEMBER. 


pen of the historian certainly will, record the general 
result of Admiral Nelson’s victory, a victory which filled 
every British bosom with exultation ; but the simplicity, 
the unadorned eloquence, the candour and piety of the 
gallant hero, may be forgotten. It is, therefore, gratify¬ 
ing to know, that three of the most ingenious men in 
their respective arts, that ever existed in this or any other 
country, united their talents, not only to commemorate 
the splendid achievement, but to perpetuate those par¬ 
ticular parts of the Admiral’s official dispatch which have 
been so generally and so justly admired.—“ My Lord,— 
Almighty God has blessed his Majesty’s arms by a great 
victory,” &c.* * * § The beautiful composition alluded to, is 
a fine piece of Ornamental Penmanship, by Tom- 
KiNsf engraved by Ashby, J in his best manner; in the 
disposing of which is introduced a beautiful Design and 
Engraving by Bartolozzi§ — History recording the Glo¬ 
rious Achievement. The whole forming a combination 
of excellence; an honour to the arts, and a just tribute 


* As every instance even of evanescent piety in this great man 
is peculiarly interesting, we extract with heart-felt pleasure a 
communication for which the editor of “ The British Flag Tri¬ 
umphant” says he is indebted to the condescension of the pre¬ 
sent Earl Nelson. It is an entry in the Hero’s diary, Oct. 21, 
1805 :—that memorable day I 

“ At the day-light saw the enemy’s combined fleet from E. to 
E. S. E.—bore away—made the signal for order of sailing, and 
to prepare for battle,—the enemy with their heads to the south¬ 
ward—at seven the enemy wearing in succession. 

“ May the great God whom I worship grant to my country, 
and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious vic¬ 
tory 1—and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it I—and may 
humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the charac¬ 
ter of the British Fleet 1 For myself, individually, I commit my 
life to him who made me, and may his blessing light upon my 
endeavours for serving my king and country faithfully ! To him 
I resign myself, and the just cause which is intrusted to me to- 
defend. Amen, Amen, Amen I”* 

t See Sept. 5, 1816. X See Aug. 31, 1818.. 

§ See Bartolozzi, Index. 


* The word Amen is often made use of in the Scriptures. In He¬ 
brew it means true, faithful, certain. Employed in devotion, at the 
end of a prayer, it implies, so be it ; at the termination of a creed, so 
it is. It has been generally used, both in the Jewish and Christian 
churches, at the conclusion of prayer. 






NOVEMBER. 513 

to the martial genius of the British nation. See Nelson, 
Index. 

30,. The Greek and Latin martyrologies celebrate the fes¬ 
tival of St. Andrew, who was a native of Bethsaida, 
Peter’s brother,* and an apostle of Jesus Christ. He 
was once a disciple of John the Baptist, whom he left to 
follow our Saviour, f being the first that was received 
into his society: Andrew introduced his brother Simon, 
and they accompanied Jesus to the marriage at Cana, 
and afterwards returned to their usual occupation, not 
expecting, perhaps, to be further employed in his service : 
but some months after, Jesus, meeting them while fishing 
together, called them to a regular attendance on his own 
person. J The acts of his martyrdom inform us that he 
suffered martyrdom at Patras, in Achaia, where he was 
crucified and interred, but his body was afterwards re¬ 
moved to Constantinople; or, as some imagine, to Scot¬ 
land, by Regulus, a pious Grecian monk, in the year 368. 
St. Andrew’s, in Fifeshire, is said to have obtained its 
name from this circumstance, and the Scotch chose him 
for their tutelar saint. See March 17, 493, and April 23. 

— 1292. Baliol was crowned at Scone. He was com¬ 
petitor for the crown of Scotland with Robert Bruce, 
grandfather of the famous king of that name, and was 
preferred by Edward I. of England, who had been chosen 
arbitrator to settle the disputed succession on the death 
of Alexander III. (See March 19, 1285, and Kinghorn, 
Bourn’s Gazetteer.') Baliol did not hold the sceptre 
long; for, remonstrating against the power assumed by 
Edward over Scotland, he was summoned to his tribunal 
as a vassal, and being provoked at this, he entered into 
a treaty with France ; and upon his troops being defeated 
at Dunbar, in 1296, by Earl Warenne, he surrendered 
himself into the hands of Edward, who confined him in 
the Tower of London, from which he was released by the 
intercession of the Pope. He retired to France, and 
died in that country, 1314. 

— 1654. Expired, in London, John Selden, born at 
Salvington, a village near Worthing, in Sussex, in 1584. 
He was a man of most extensive knowledge and prodi¬ 
gious erudition, being usually styled “ The great dictator 
of learning to the English nationGrotius calls him 


* See May 1, and June 29, 66. f See John i. 40. 

X. See Matt. iv. 19. 

z 3 





514 


NOVEMBER. 


“ The glory of England and Baxter says, that he was a 
resolved serious Christian. (See Aug. 7> 1799.) Seldeti 
was interred with great solemnity in the Temple Church, 
London, and on this occasion the learned Usher pro¬ 
nounced a funeral discourse. The nature of his sub¬ 
jects, (being those of the early history of Britain, of the 
origin and progress of English Law, of Titles of Honour, 
&c. &c. &c.) and a harsh and difficult style, have thrown 
his works out of the ordinary course of reading, though 
they are acknowledged by competent judges deserving of 
the highest commendation. 

Who studies ancient laws and rites, 

Tongues, arts, and arms and history, 

Must drudge, like Selden, days and nights, 

And in the endless labour die. 

Dr. R. Bentley. 

30, 1667. Was born that celebrated wit and powerful po¬ 
litical writer, Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s, 
in Dublin, where his influence was for many years almost 
boundless. The place of his birth was a small house, 
now called No. 7>Hoey’s Court, Dublin. In 1809 it was 
occupied by Mrs. Jackson, a dealer in earthenware. He 
was the posthumous son of Jonathan Swift, and being 
bred up as an object of charity, he early adopted the cus¬ 
tom of observing his birth-day as a term, not of joy, but 
of sorrow, and of reading, when it recurred, the striking 
passage of scripture, in which Job laments and execrates 
the day upon which it was said in his father’s house, that 
a man child was born. His works are of a miscellaneous 
kind. They consist of manly, political discussions, good 
sermons, able letters, ingenious romances, excellent 
poems, and indelicate^Vw# d’esprits. In verse he is the 
great master of familiar poetry. The diction of Swift, 
says Dr. Aikin, is the most complete example of collo¬ 
quial ease that verse affords.—His household was under 
the management of Miss Johnson, a person whose ex¬ 
traordinary history is interwoven with that of his own life, 
and whom he celebrates under the name of Stella, a 
woman whom he privately married, but whom lie never 
treated as a wife, and whose death he is supposed to have 
hastened.* After her death the austerity of his temper 


* Auother accomplished female, Miss Hester Vanhomrigh, 
known by the poetical name of Vanessa, with whom Swift be¬ 
came acquainted in London, in 1712, upon heariug of his mar- 



NOVEMBER. 


515 


increased, and frequent returns of periodical illness un¬ 
dermined his health and faculties, and he become utterly 
incapable of conversation. In this deplorable situation 
he lingered till 1745, when he died, leaving the bulk of 
his fortune, amounting to i£l 1,000, to erect and endow 
an hospital for idiots and lunatics. (See June 16, 1722.) 
Swift had, with man*- faults, some virtues: of this num¬ 
ber was his charity and his filial piety. He always treated 
his mother with great duty and affection. How much the 
character of his “ Poems to Stella” is superior to the 
frivolous gallantry of amatory verse in general, is testified 
by these lines, and at the same time shew that the actions 
of a writer are not always in accordance with his sen¬ 
timents. 

Say, Stella, feel you no content 
Reflecting on a life well spent ? 

Your skilful hand employ’d to save 
Despairing wretches from the grave, 

And then supporting with your store 
Those whom you dragg’d from death before ? 

Your generous boldness to defend 
An innocent and absent friend ; 

That courage which can make you just 
To merit humbled in the dust; 

The detestation you express 
For vice in all its glittering dress ; 

That patience under tort’ring pain 
Where stubborn Stoics would complain ? 

30, 1700. Battle of Narva. At Narva, a town near 
the Gulf of Finland, in Russia, Peter the Great was 
totally defeated by Charles XII. of Sweden, though 
the army of the former is said to have contained 100,000 
men, and that of the latter only 20,000. (See July 8, 
1709.) In 1704, Peter took Narva by storm, and trans¬ 
ported the inhabitants to Astracan, near the north part of 
the Caspian Sea. 


riage with Stella, never recovered the shock, but died fourteen 
months afterwards. Thus loving and beloved by two of the 
most beautiful and interesting women of the time, he was doomed 
to form a happy union with neither, and saw them sink succes¬ 
sively to the grave, under the consciousness that their mortal 
disease had its source in disappointed hopes and ill-requited 
affection. 

Sir W. Scott’s Mis. Works. 






( 516 ) 


DECEMBER. 


--Winter, ruler of th’ inverted year, 

Thy scatter’d hair, with sleet like ashes fill’d, 

. Thy breath congeal’d upon fhy lips, thy cheeks 
Fring’d with a beard, made white with other snows 
Than those of age, thy forehead wrapt in clouds, 

A leafless branch thy sceptre, and thy throne 
A sliding car, indebted to uo wheels, 

But urg’d by storms along thy slipp’ry way. 

Cowper. 

December is the last month in the year, but named 
December , or the tenth month, from decern * “ ten be¬ 
cause the Romans, as we have had occasion to observe 
before, began their year in March, in the time of Romulus. 
The month of December was under the protection of Vesta, f 
Romulus assigned it 30 days, Numa reduced it to 29, which 
Julius Caesar increased to 31. 


* Hence decempeda, a ten-feet rod, an instrument used by the 
ancients in measuring; and Decemviri, ten magistrates of abso¬ 
lute authority among the Romans. 

f Vesta, the daughter of Saturn and Rhea, was worshipped by 
the Romans as the patroness of the vestal virgins and the goddess 
of fire. /Eneas introduced her mysteries into Italy, and Numa 
built her a temple into which uo males were permitted to go, 
and in which a fire was continually kept lighted by a certain num¬ 
ber of virgins, who had dedicated themselves to the goddess. She 
was represented in a long flowing robe, with a veil on her head, 
holding in one hand a lamp, or two-eared vessel, and in the 
other a javelin, or sometimes a miniature Palladium, —a cele¬ 
brated statue of Pallas ,X concerning which the opinions of ancient 
authors are utterly discordant: some assert that it fell from hea¬ 
ven near the tent of Ilus, as he was building the citadel of Ilium ; 
and it is universally agreed, that on its preservation depended 
the safety of Troy ;§ which the oracle of Apollo declared should 
never be taken so long as this palladium was found within its 
walls.|| This fatality being made known to the Greeks, they con- 


t See Exer.on the Globes, 11th edit., and March 28, 1802. 

S See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. 

y See Exer. on the Globes , 11th edit. art. Apollo and Oracle. 




DECEMBER. 


517 


Under the reign of Commodus, this month was called, 
by way of flattery, Amazonius, in honour of a courtesan 
whom that prince passionately loved, and had got painted 
like an Amazon;* but it only kept the name during’that 
emperor’s life. At the latter end of this month the Ro¬ 
mans had the juveniles ludi, or youthf ul sports; and the 
country people kept the feast of the goddess Vacunaf in 


trived to steal it away during the Trojan war; though some 
maintain, that it was only a statue of similar size and shape that 
was thus sacrilegiously obtained ; the real palladium being con¬ 
veyed safely from Troy to Italy by .Tineas, and preserved by the 
Romans with the greatest secrecy and veneration, in the temple 
of Vesta ,X and esteemed the safeguard of Rome. The term pal¬ 
ladium, therefore, continues to denote either a real or supposed 
defence or support. The Navy of England, for instance, is styled 
the palladium of its liberty, and the Bank the palladium of its 
commerce. Junius calls the liberty of the press the palladium of 
liberty. Protogenes, the celebrated painter, has been termed the 
palladium of Rhodes. 

And Rhodes, rejoicing in her rescu’d towers, 

Beheld her best palladium in his powers. 

Shee’s Elements of Art. 

(See Geog. Ever, on the New Test., and Bourn’s Gazetteer, 
art. Rhodes.) 

The famous chair in which the kings of Scotland were crowned 
at Scone, in Perthshire, was called the national palladium ; a 
Caledonian Apollo having oraeulously invested it with a protec¬ 
tive power. This popular belief, how ridiculous soever, induced 
our Edward I., in the year 1297, to carry it off, greatly to the 
mortification of the credulous Scots, whom he had previously de¬ 
feated in several battles. This celebrated Scotch guardian, on 
its arrival in London, was carefully deposited in Westminster 
Abbey, and is one of the two chairs used at the coronation of out- 
kings ; the other was made for the amiable Queen Mary II. See 
Dec. 28, 1694. 

* See Exer. on the Globes, art. Caput Medusae. 

f Vacuna presided over repose and leisure, as the word ( ya- 
cure) indicates. At these annual periods of leisure and convivial 
enjoyment, mirth and hilarity, if the participators realized the 
Roman poet’s description, appeared on every countenance: 

In genial winter, swains enjoy their store ; 

Forget their hardships, and recruit for more ; 


t See March 29, 1807, and June 9; also Exer. on the Globes, 11th 
edit. art. Vesta. 




518 


DECEMBER. 


the fields, having then, gathered in their fruits and sown 
their corn; whence seems to be derived our popular fes¬ 
tival, called harvest-home. In our climate December is, 
however, one of the most unpleasant months in the whole 
year. 

No mark of vegetable life is seen, 

No bird to bird repeats his tuneful call, 

Save the dark leaves of some rude evergreen, 

Save the lone red-breast ou the moss-grown wall. 

Scott. 

Shakspeare thus notices the gloominess of this month : 

What should we speak of 
When we are old as you ? when w r e shall hear 
The rain and wind beat dark December ? 

The gloom of out-door scenes is, however, compensated 
by the exhilarating ray of fire-side enjoyments. The Dii 
Penates (the household gods) are now objects, of increased 
love and veneration; and the tender charities of social 
life derive from their concentration round the domestic 
hearth new vigour and interest. Thus, though the sun 
“ shortens his journey between noon and night ” we find the 
winter evenings 

-kindly still 

Compensating his loss with added hours 
Of social converse and instructive ease. 

And gath’ring, at short notice, in one group, 

The family dispers’d, and fixing thought, 

Not less dispers’d by day-light and its cares. 

Fire-side enjoyments, home-born happiness. 

And all the comforts that the lowly roof 
Of undisturb’d retirement, and the hours 
Of long, uninterrupted ev’uing, knows. 

Cowper. 

The ancient rites of hospitality, still observed at this sea¬ 
son, also occur opportunely to brighten the setting hours of 
the expiring year, and to gild the rising daw T n of the new 
one with joyful hope. 

And after him came next the chill December ; 

Yet he, through merry feasting that he made 
And great bonfires, did not the cold remember. 

His Saviour’s birth so much his mind did glad. 

Spenser. 


The farmer to full bowls invites his friends, 

And what he got with pains, with pleasure spends. 

Dry den’s Virgil. 




DECEMBER. 

REMARKABLE EVENTS. 


519 


1, 1135. Henry I. expired at St. Dennis le Forinent, 
near Rouen,* in France, from eating- too plentifully of 
lampreys; a food which, it is said, always agreed better 
with his palate than his constitution. He died in the 67th 
year of his age, and the 35th of his reign, leaving, by 
will, his daughter Matilda heir to his dominions; but 
Stephen, the third son of Stephen Earl of Blois, by 
Adela, the fourth daughter of William the Conqueror, 
taking advantage of Maud’s absence, ascended the throne, 
by the assistance of his brother Henry, bishop of Win¬ 
chester, which occasioned a civil war. Henry was 
buried at Reading, in Berks. Henry was wise and valiant, 
and ranks among the most accomplished princes that 
have filled the English throne; but his unjust and inhu¬ 
man treatment of his brother, and his exorbitant and 
frequent taxation of his subjects, have sullied his reign. 

— 1521. Leo X., an artful pope, but a great patron of 
literature, died suddenly at Magliana, near the Tiber, 
Italy. It was the general opinion at that time, and has 
been confirmed by the suffrages of succeeding histori¬ 
ans, that his death was occasioned by the excess of his 
joy on hearing of the success of his arms over the French; 
but some have supposed that the pontiff was poisoned. 
See Bourn’s Gazetteer. 

— 1640. Portugal, of which Philip II. of Spain had 
made himself master in 1580, became an independent 
kingdom by a revolution, which placed John Duke of 
Braganza on the throne. See Jan. 28, 1641, May 21, 1662, 
Nov. 14, 1638, and Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Lisbon and 
Braganza. 

— 1692. Was born, at Wantage, Berks, Isaac Kimber, 
a learned Protestant Dissenting Minister, esteemed for 
purity of style and impartiality in his literary publica¬ 
tions. Among others works, he was the compiler of an 
“ History of England.” He died in 1755. 

— 1822. Pedro, son of John VI., king of Portugal, who 
died in 1826, was crowned emperor of Brazil. 

— 1825. Alexander, emperor of Russia, died at Tagan¬ 
rog, at the mouth of the Mims, which falls into the sea 
of Asoph. He had reigned nearly 24 years and was 48 
years old. (See March 23, 1801.) The efforts of Alex- 


* See August 31, 1422, and September 9, 1087. 



520 


DECEMBER. 


ander to improve Russia were ceaseless and most exten¬ 
sive, and he has the highest claims to the gratitude of her 
natives. In his politics he was artful and wavering ; at one 
time being the most determined enemy of Napoleon, at 
another his greatest admirer and warmest friend, and 
finally the chief instrument in driving him from France. 
(See Tilset, Erfurth, and Paris, Bourn’s Gazetteer.') 
Alexander was succeeded by his brother Nicholas, his 
elder brother, Constantine, having resigned in his favour. 

2, 1554. Died, at a village near Seville, in the South of 
Spain, Ferdinand Cortez, a Spanish general, famous 
for the conquest of Mexico, but infamous for the cruel¬ 
ties he eommited upon the vanquished, without regard 
to rank, age, or sex. He was born in 1491, at Medelin, 
in Estramadura. 

— 179b. Mungo Park departed from Pisania, about 
200 miles from the mouth of the Gambia, in the western 
part of Africa, to explore the interior part of that coun¬ 
try, which he accomplished to the extent of eleven hun¬ 
dred miles in the space of eighteen months. This in¬ 
trepid and intelligent traveller is supposed to have perished 
in a journey of discovery in the same quarter of the 
globe. See June 9, 1/88, and Arith. Quest. 10th edit, 
art. Butter, vegetable. 

— 1804. In the cathedral church of Notre Dame, at 
Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte was anointed and crown¬ 
ed Emperor of the French, by Pope Pius VII.; at the 
same time, Madame Bonaparte was inaugurated empress, 
and both were formally enthroned. See Mav 8, and 
24, 1814. 

*— 1805. Was fought the battle of Austerlitz, between 
the French and Austro-Russian armies. Three emperors 
were present at this engagement, viz. Alexander of 
Russia, Francis II. of Austria and Germany, and Napo¬ 
leon of France. This conflict, which was as sanguinary 
as any in the annals of civilized nations, terminated in 
favour of the French, and dissolved the confederacy of 
the princes who had united to check the ambition of 
Bonaparte. 

Austerlitz is a village somewhat East of Brin, in Mo¬ 
ravia: long. 17 deg. E., lat.49 deg. N. See Germany, in 
Guthrie’s fol. Atlas. 

3, 1809. Intelligence was brought to London, that 
Zante, Ithaca, and Cerigo, adjacent to Turkey in Europe, 
had submitted to the British forces. These, with a few 
other small islands, are now styled The Ionian Isles ; 


DECEMBER. 


521 


and, by the peace of 1815, are placed under our protec¬ 
tion. They form an independent state, with the benefits 
of a constitutional charter; and the executive government 
is vested in his Britannic Majesty, who is represented 
by a lord high commissioner. The population amounts 
to about 200,000 persons, who carry on a very consider¬ 
able commerce. See Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Seven 
Islands; and Arith. Quest, art. Currants. 

3, 1823. Belzoni, a traveller, celebrated for his investi¬ 
gations and discoveries relative to the antiquities of Egypt, 
died at Gato on his way to Housa and Timbuctoo from 
Benin. He was a native of Padua. In 1820 he published 
a y Narrative of the Operations and recent Discoveries 
within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, &e., &c., in 
Egypt and Nubia.” 

— 1827- Expired John Flaxman, Esq., professor of 
sculpture at the Royal Academy. He was an excellent 
scholar, and executed many designs from the ancient 
classic authors, and contributed several articles to Dr. 
Rees’s Cyclopaedia. His wife was a lady of distinguished 
literary attainments, and he is said to have derived much 
assistance in the composition of many of his works, from 
her classical taste and knowledge. This famous sculptor 
was born at York, in 1/55, and was interred at Pancras. 

4, 1214. William of Scotland, surnamed the Lion, 
died at Stirling. He was a prince of more energy than 
judgment; in the field he was active and courageous; 
in adminstering justice, steady and severe. His confe¬ 
deracy with prince Henry against his father was impolitic 
and immoral, and his inconsiderate valour at the siege 
of Alnwick brought misfortunes on himself and disgrace 
upon his people. 

— 1642. Expired Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister 
to Louis XIII. He was a man of great capacity and 
boundless ambition. His ministry forms an sera in the 
French government; that in which the power of the 
great lords was humbled, the Protestant party reduced to 
submission, and every other authority laid at the feet of 
the crown. Cardinal Richelieu prepared the way for the 
power and grandeur of Louis XIV. 

— 1745. The Young Pretender, grandson of James 
II., entered Derby, which was the nearest approach that 
infatuated youth made to London. See April 16, 1746, 
Feb. 4, 1716, and Derby, Index. 

— 17.92. Died, in London, Sir William Fordyce, an 
eminent physician, and a very benevolent man, born at 


522 


DECEMBER. 


Aberdeen.* The Rev. James Fordyce, D. D., brother 
to Sir William, was born at the same place, in 1720. 
He preached first at Brechin, in Angusshire, afterwards 
at Aloa, near Stirling; and finally accepted of an invita¬ 
tion from a Society of Protestant Dissenters, who had 
their place of worship in Monkwell Street, London. 
Here he preached for many years, with great powers of 
eloquence and fervour of piety, to an audience always 
crowded and often overflowing; his fame as a pulpit- 
orator being unrivalled by any of his contemporaries. 
His theological sentiments were in no extreme, but 
liberal, rational, and manly. He died at Bath, in 1796, 
leaving behind him some excellent moral and religious 
publications, particularly “ Sermons to Young Women,” 
and “ Addresses to Young Men.” 

David Fordyce, a learned and elegant writer, bro¬ 
ther of the preceding, was shipwrecked off the coast of 
Holland, in 1751, 

5, 1560. Died, of an abscess in his ear, in his 18th year, 
and the 2nd of his reign, Francis II., the French king, 
who had lately married Mary, Queen of Scots.f Francis 
was succeeded by his younger brother, Charles IX., 
Catharine d’Medici, his mother, taking upon her the 
administration during his minority. 

— 1788. Admiral Greig was interred at Revel, a large, 
rich, and strong town of the Russian empire, 133 miles 
W. by S. of Petersburgh. This brave naval commander 
was a native of Inverkeithing, in Fifeshire, Scotland, 
and had the command of the Russian fleet which, on the 
6th of July, 1770, destroyed that of the Turks near 
Chesme, or Tscheshme, a seaport of Natolia, and adjacent 
to the island of Scio, in the Archipelago. At the con¬ 
clusion of the war between the Russians and the Turks, 
in 1774, the Empress advanced him to the rank of Vice- 
Admiral, and appointed him commandant of Cronstadt, 
a famous town and fortress near Petersburgh, and the 
station of the Russian Fleet. Nor did the distinction 


* George Jamison, the Painter, usually called the Vandyke of 
Scotland, was born at Aberdeen, and died at Edinburgh, in 1644. 
Andrew Baxter, a celebrated writer on metaphysics and natural 
philosophy, who died in 1750, was a native of this city ; as was 
also Dr. George Fordyce, an eminent physician and medical 
writer, who died in London, in 1802. See Nov, 1, 1770. 

f See April 24, 1558. 



DECEMBER. 


523 


and honour paid to him end with his life. His funeral 
was, by the express orders of the Empress, celebrated 
with great pomp, being attended by those appropriate 
naval and military honours which the martial nations of 
Europe have assigned as the last tribute to the memory 
of the brave. 

5, 1795. John Bewick expired, of a consumption, at 
his native place, Ovingham, on the banks of the Tyne, a 
few miles west of Newcastle. He was eminent for his 
singular skill in engraving on wood. The last efforts 
of this ingenious artist were the embellishments for a 
beautiful edition of Somerville’s poem of the Chase; the 
subjects of which, being entirely composed of landscape 
scenery and animals, are adapted above all others to 
display the beauties of wood engraving. Mr. Thomas 
Bewick, brother to the preceding, and an artist of equal 
merit, is still living. 

— 1808. Died, at his house in Spital Square, London, 
Dr. William Hawes, an English physician, who has 
immortalized his name by establishing with Dr. Cogan the 
Royal Humane Society for the recovery of persons appa¬ 
rently dead by drowning, suffocation, or strangulation. 
Dr. H awes was a truly amiable and benevolent man; 
and his name will be recorded among the benefactors of 
his country, for the establishment of an institution which 
has been a source of renewed happiness to thousands 
who might otherwise have sunk into wretchedness, arising 
from the untimely loss of their dearest relations. He 
was born at Islington in 173b, and buried there. A 
tablet is affixed in Islington church to his memory. See 
Islington, Index; also Bourn’s Gazetteer , Islington, 
Rowell, and Walthamstow. 

6, Is the festival of St. Nicolas, who was a native of Patara, 
the capital of Lysia, in Asia Minor, and by his exemplary 
conduct obtained the patronage of Constantine the Great. 
The relics of this saint are said to have been preserved at 
Tolentino, 30 miles S. S. W. of Ancona, Italy. 

— 1421. Henry .VI. was born at Windsor, and his birth¬ 
day being the anniversary of St. Nicolas, occasioned that 
monarch to dedicate King’s College, Cambridge, to this 
saint and the Virgin Mary. See Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. 
Patara. 

— 1670. Was interred in Bolton churchyard, a few miles 
east of York, Henry Jenkins, a person of obscure birth, 
but of life truly memorable, for he was enriched with the 
goods of nature, if not of fortune; and happy in the dura- 


524 


DECEMBER. 


t-ion, if not in the variety, of his enjoyments : and though 
the partial world might have despised and disregarded his 
low and humble state, the equal eye of Providence beheld 
and blessed it with a patriarch’s health and length of days! 
to teach mistaken man, that these blessings are entailed on 
temperance , a life of labour , and a mind at ease.* * * § The 
advantages of sober conduct and industry are well exhi¬ 
bited in the following lines : 

Oh happy ! and, in my account, denied 
That sensibility of pain with which 
Refinement is endued, thrice happy thou. 

Thy frame, vobust and hardy, feels indeed 
The piercing cold, but feels it unimpair’d ; 

The learned finger never need explore 
Thy vig’rous pulse : and the unhealthful East, 

That breathes the spleen, and searches ev’ry bone 
Of the infirm, is wholesome air to thee. 

Come hither, ye that press your beds of down 
And sleep uot;+ see him sweating o’er his bread 
Before he eats it.—Tis the primal curse,J 
But soften’d into mercy ; made the pledge 
Of cheerful days, and nights without a groan. 

COWPER. 

Jenkins lived to the amazing age of one hundred and 


* The celebrated Dr. Fothergill§ observes, that “ the due 
regulation of the passions, perhaps contributes more to health 
and longevity than any of the other non-naturalsand it has 
been often remarked, that the cheerful and contented generally 
enjoy better health, and live longer, than persons of irritable and 
fretful dispositions; whatever, therefore, tends to promote good 
humour and innocent hilarity, must have a beneficial influence 
in these respects. The Chinese erect triumphal or honorary 
arches to the memory of those who have lived a century, think¬ 
ing, that, without a sober and virtuous life, it is impossible to 
attain so great an age. 

Silver hairs 

Will purchase us a good opinion, 

And buy men’s voices to commend our deeds. 

Shakspeare’s Aphorisms. 

f-Weariness • 

Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth 
Finds the down pillow hard. 

Shakspeare. 

+ See Cen iii. 19. 


§ See Index. 





DECEMBER. 525 

sixty-nine. He was originally a fisherman, but in the 
latter part of his life a peasant. See Nov. 15, 1635. 

6, 1688. Fallen Majesty. Mr. Pennant, in describing 
Lambeth church, takes occasion to mention an instance 
of fallen majesty in the person of Mary d’Este, the un¬ 
happy queen of James II., who, fleeing with her infant 
prince from the ruin impending over their house, crossed 
the Thames from the abdicated Whitehall, and took shel¬ 
ter beneath the walls of this ancient edifice a whole hour 
from the rain, the night being very inclement. Here she 
waited with aggravated misery, till a common coach, pro¬ 
cured from the next inn, arrived, and conveyed her to 
Gravesend; whence, bidding an eternal adieu to these 
kingdoms, she sailed to France. See Jan. 21, and Oct. 
16, 17^3, and James II., Index. 

— 1776. Rhode Island, an island of North America, in 
the state of the same name, was taken from the Ameri¬ 
cans by the British forces. This island is a noted resort 
of invalids from the southern climate, being extremely 
pleasant and healthful. It is also celebrated for fine 
women; and travellers call it, with propriety, “The Eden 
of America.” 

7, 43 B. C. Was basely assassinated, near his Formian 
Villa, adjacent to Cajeta in Latium,* Italy, the ever-famous 
orator, statesman, and philosopher, Marcus Tullius 
Cicero. He declaimed in his youth so openly against 
Sylla’s father, that it became necessary for him to retire 
into Greece, where he heard the Athenian orators and 
philosophers, and greatly improved both in eloquence 
and knowledge. He then came back to Rome, was made 
quaestor,f and subsequently aedile,+ when he prosecuted 


* See Wilkinson’s or Smith’s Atlas Classica. Some, how¬ 
ever, place it in Campania. It received its name from Cajeta, the 
nurse of /Eneas, who was buried there : 

And thou, O matron of immortal fame! 

Here dying, to the shore hast left thy name: 

Cajeta still the place is call’d from thee, 

The nurse of great /Eneas’ infancy. 

Dryden’s Virgil. 

f Quaestor, in Roman antiquity, was an officer who had the ma¬ 
nagement of the public treasure. The quaestorsldp was the first 
office any one could bear in the commonwealth, and gave a right 
to sit in the senate. At first there were only two; but afterwards 
the number was greatly increased. 

J /Edile was a magistrate whose chief business was to superin- 




526 


DECEMBER. 


Verres for his cruel extortions in his province. He was 
afterwards made consul,* * * * § and discovered and defeated 
Catiline’s conspiracy: yet Clodius and his abettors ba¬ 
nished him, till he was recalled by Pompey, to whom he 
afterwards adhered in the civil wars. Antony, after the 
triumviratef was formed, had him massacred, in revenge 
for his philippics; ^ and the murderer was Popilius, a man 
for whom Cicero had formerly pleaded, and who actually 
cut off the head and hands of his defender.§ The works 
of Cicero will ever remain the standard of sound philo¬ 
sophy and true eloquence. See Jan. 3, 107 B. C., and 
Aug. 5. 

7, 1683. Algernon Sydney, or Sidney, a celebrated 
lover of his country, and an eminent political writer, was 
beheaded on Tower-Hill. 

“ The boldest son of public weal, 

See Sidney leaning o’er the block ! His mien, 

His voice, his hand, unshaken, clear, serene.|| 
Unconquer’d patriot! form’d by ancient lore 
The love of ancient freedom to restore ; 

Who nobly acted what he boldly wrote, 

And seal’d by death the lessons that he taught.” 

He ascended the scaffold with a firm, undaunted mien, 
worthy of the man who set up Marcus Brutus for his 
model. He gave a paper, containing a manly vindication 
of his innocence, to the sheriffs; observing, that “ he had 
made his peace with God, and had nothing more to say 


tend buildings of all kinds, but more especially public ones; to 
whom also belonged the care of the highways, public places, 
weights and measures, &c., &c. 

* Consul was the chief magistrate of the Roman commonwealth, 
invested with regal authority for the space of one year. They were 
two in number, and chosen annually: the first were elected in 
the year of Rome 244, after the expulsion of the Tarquins. The 
badge of their office was the prcetexta, a robe fringed with purple, 
afterwards exchanged for the toga picta or palmata. See Arith. 
Quest. 10th edit. art. Lucretius, Wine (Palm), Cloth Measure, 
Ciucinnatus, and Horse. See Dictator, Index. 

+ See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. 

i Philippics are invective declamations; so called from the 
bitter invectives which Demosthenes emitted against Philip of 
Macedon. See Arith. Quest, art. Demosthenes and Battle (Ch»- 
ronea). 

§ See June 24, St. John’s Day. 


|| See Oct. 29, 1618. 



DECEMBER. 


527 


to men.” He then pulled off his hat, coat, and doublet, 
saying, “ he was ready to die, and would give them no 
further trouble.” He gave three guineas to the execu¬ 
tioner ; and perceiving the fellow murmur, as if the sum 
was inadequate, desired a servant to give him a guinea or 
two more.* He then kneeled down, and after a solemn 
pause of a few moments, calmly laid his head upon the 
block. Being asked by the executioner if he should rise 
again, he replied intrepidly, ‘‘ Not till the general resur¬ 
rection—strike on.” The executioner obeyed the man¬ 
date, and severed his head from his body at a blow. 
Mead ley’s Mem. of Algernon Sydney. 

This invincible patriot was condemned on a false charge 
(not even supported by the appearance of legal evidence) 
of being concerned in the Rye-House Plot ;f and his ex- 


* Much feeling is certainly not to be expected from an execu¬ 
tioner ; yet there are not many instances, we believe, of such an 
utter absence of all sensibility, and such a gross display of avarice, 
as were exhibited by this ruffian. See Arith. Quest. 10th edit, 
art. Howard. 

t Rye-House is situated two miles from Hoddesdon, Herts. 
This building has acquired celebrity from its having been tenanted 
by one of the persons engaged in the real or more probable pre¬ 
tended conspiracy to assassinate Charles II. and the Duke of York, 
at this place, on their return from London to Newmarket. See 
Stanstead, Bourn’s Gazetteer. The oppressive measures of the 
royal brothers about this time, greatly agitated the nation; and 
meetings were held by the supporters of liberty, on true consti¬ 
tutional principles, to consider of the most eligible method of 
opposing the further encroachments of despotism and bigotry.}; 
Of the absolute necessity of these conferences no other proof can 
be requisite, than a reference to the conduct of the Duke of York 
when king; and which conduct, most happily for the nation, pro¬ 
duced the Glorious Revolution^ While the patriots were thus 
employed, the intemperate zeal of some inferior persons was ex¬ 
ercised in talking over plans of violence and assassination: yet 
even bv them no overt act was committed ; and Hume, the apo¬ 
logist of the Stuarts, himself admits, that the whole was little 
more than loose discourse, the overflowings of zeal and rancour. 
Hist, of Eng. 


t See Nov. 14, 1785. 

§ See Nov. 4, 1688, and Arith. Quest, art. Revolution, James II. 
Jefferies (Judge], and Russell (Lord;. 





528 


DECEMBER. 


edition is generally regarded as one of the greatest blem¬ 
ishes of Charles II.■’s profligate reign. His “ Discourses 
upon Government” were formerly held in the highest 
repute in England, and have been frequently reprinted ; 
but the most correct and elegant edition of his works was 
published by the late Thomas Hollis, who, among other 
instances of charity, beneficence, and patriotism, too nu¬ 
merous to be barely mentioned here, frequently reprinted, 
at his own expense, the writings of the immortal British 
patriots, who not only wrote, but died for the cause of 
civil and religious liberty. Mr. Hollis was born in 1728, 
and died in 1774. Algernon Sydney was the second son 
of Robert Earl of Leicester, by Dorothy, eldest daughter 
of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland; and was born 
about the year 1617- 

8, The Greeks celebrate the feast of St. Tychicus, and give 
him the title of one of the seventy disciples, and Bishop 
of Colophon.* Some martyrologists mark his feast at 
Paphos, in Cyprus, April 19, and give him only the title 
of deacon.f He was a disciple of St. Paul’s, and em¬ 
ployed by that apostle to carry his letters to several 
churches. He was of the province of Asia, and accom¬ 
panied St. Paul, A. D. 58, in his journey from Corinth to 
Jerusalem.J He carried the Epistle to the Colossians, 
written A. D. Gl ; that to the Ephesians, written A. D. 
65 ; and the first to Timothy, written A. D. 64. St. Paul 
did not send him merely to carry his letters, but to learn 
the state of the churches. Hence he calls him his dear 
brother, a faithful minister of the Lord, and his compa¬ 
nion in the service of God.§ He had thought also of 
sending him into Crete, to preside there in the absence of 
Titus.|| It is thought also, that he was deputed to Ephe¬ 
sus while Timothy should be at Rome, when he carried a 
letter to the Ephesians from this apostle 

— 65 B. C. Quintus Flaccus Horatius was born at 
Venusium,^! a town of Apulia, or of Lucania: the poet 
himself leaving the matter undecided : 


* See Nov. 28. + See Deacon, Index. + Acts xx. 4. 

§ Ephes. vi. 21, 22; Coloss. iv. 7, 8. || Tit. iii. 12. 

H Venosa, in Naples, is supposed by Salmon to be the ancient 
Venusium. It is seated on a fertile plain at the foot of the Ap- 
penines, and 72 miles N. E. of Naples. Long. 16 E., lat. 41 N. 




DECEMBER. 


529 


For whether I my birth t’ Apulia* * * § owe, 

Or to Lucania,f faith ’tis hard to know. 

Since we Fermians live between these two. 

Creech. 

✓ 

At ten years of age he was removed to Rome for the 
purpose of education, and that his father might have an 
opportunity of setting before him the examples of all sorts 
of persons, and shewing him what behaviour he should 
imitate, and what he should avoid; exciting him to this 
imitation by pointing out the good effects of virtue, and 
the ill consequences of vice. Meantime, Horace did not 
want for the best masters that Rome could afford; and, 
when he was about eighteen, was sent to Athens, where 
he completed what his father had so well begun, and ac¬ 
quired all the accomplishments that polite learning and a 
liberal education could give. Returning to Rome after 
the famous battle of Philippi, in which he manifested the 
most shameful cowardice,} his poetical talents soon made 
him known to some of the greatest wits of the age. Vir¬ 
gin recommended him to Mec8enas,|| who grew so fond 
of him, that he became a suitor for him to the Emperor 
Augustus, and got his estate (which had been forfeited by 
his engaging in the interests of Brutus) restored to him. 
Augustus was highly taken with his merit and address, 
admitted him into a close familiarity with him in his pri¬ 
vate hours, and afterwards made him no small offers of 


* Apulia, a district of Italy, was part of Magna Grecia, and 
famous for its fine wools. Some suppose that it was named after 
Apulus, an ancient king of the country before the Trojan war. 
See Arith. Quest, art. Wool. 

f Lucania was much celebrated by the ancients for its exqui¬ 
site grapes It was situated south of Apulia.^f They now form 
part of the kingdom of Naples. 

+ See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Battle of Philippi. 

§ See Oct. 15, 70 B. C. 

|| Mecaenas was the great friend and counseller of Augustus 
Caesar, and himself a very polite scholar, but chiefly memorable 
for having been the patron and protector of n*en of letters. All 
the patrons of learning since his time, have been usually called 
Mecaenases. 


Gibbon has observed, that Venusia, in Lucania, is a place on 
which the birth of Horace has conferred fame. Bourn’s Gazetteer t 
art. Venosa, 

2 A 





530 


DECEMBER. 


preferment. The poet had the greatness of mind to re¬ 
fuse them all: the life which he preferred was the very 
reverse of a court life ; a life of retirement and study, free 
from the noise and hurry of ambition. 

I, constant to myself, part griev’d from home, 

When hated business forces me to Rome. 

Creech. 

He spent the summer in the country, and the winter at 
Tarentum, which is situated in the warmest climate of all 
Italy. While thus enjoying the sweets of retirement, his 
beloved friend and patron Mecaenas died, and this inci¬ 
dent is supposed to have touched him so sensibly, that he 
did not survive it long enough to lament him in an elegy. 
Macaenas died the beginning of November, and Horace 
the 2/th of the same month, about six years B. C. 

Being confident of immortal fame from his works, he 
had thus expressed his indifference as to any magnificent 
funeral rites, or fruitless sorrow for his death: 

Say not I died, nor shed a tear, 

Nor round ray ashes mourn, 

Nor of my needless obsequies take care; 

All pomp and state are lost upon an empty urn. 

Oldsworth. 

The admirable writings of Horace consist chiefly of 
satirical and preceptive odes and epistles. The learned 
world have been much divided in their opinion concern¬ 
ing the works of this eminent poet and those of Juvenal. 
The grave and serious like the solemn indignation of Juve¬ 
nal, and the gay and courtly, the witty smiles of Horace. 
The latter constantly diverts, the former strikes more 
home, and makes more impression on the mind.* 

Juvenal with gen’rous rage 
Lash’d the vices of his age. 

8, 1542. Was born in the palace of Linlithgow, Scotland, 
the unfortunate Queen Mary : her father, James V., 
then dying of a broken heart for his misfortunes at Sol- 


* Juvenal was born at Aquinum, a town of Latium, on the 
borders of the Samnites, now called Aquino, in the kingdom of 
Naples. He lived in the time of the monsters Nero and Domi- 
tian, and died at a very advanced age, in the reign of Trajan, 
A. D. 128. He is by some styled the last of the Roman poets. 
After him, they subjoin, poetry decayed, and nothing more claims 
our attention as a perfect poetical composition. 



DECEMBER. 


531 


way-Moss,* predicted the miseries which hung over her 
and Scotland. At Linlithgow is still pointed out to stran¬ 
gers the house from which the regent Murray was shot. 
See Jan. 23, 1570. 

9, 1608. The illustrious English poet, John Milton, was 
born in Bread Street, Cheapside, London. He received 
the rudiments of a learned education at St. Paul’s School, 
and afterwards studied at Cambridge. Milton was emi¬ 
nently skilled in the Latin tongue, and is said to have 
been the first Englishman who, after the revival of letters, 
wrote Latin verses with classical elegance. He was also 
well acquainted with all the languages which are consi¬ 
dered as either learned or polite. He began his travels in 
1638, and passed fifteen months in visiting Paris, Florence, 
Rome, Lucca, Venice, and Geneva. On his return home, 
his allowance from his father not being ample, he took a 
house in Aldersgate Street for the reception of scholars,f 
thus supplying his deficiencies by an honest and useful 
employment: and it is said, that in the art of education he 
performed wonders.]; 

In the year 1641, he began to engage in the controver¬ 
sies of the times, and wrote several tracts against episeo- 


* See Nov. 25, and Dec. 14, 1542. 

t The learned Dr. Burney, speaking of the office of a school¬ 
master, an occupation which lie himself, for many years, so emi¬ 
nently filled, enjoins his brethren to recollect, amidst watchful¬ 
ness which must enfeeble the stoutest frame, and amidst exertions 
which must enervate the most vigorous understanding, that no 
occupation can he more eminently useful than that in which they 
are engaged. Let them also feel with conscious pride that the real 
dignity of every profession rests solely on its utility. Preface to 
the Abridgment of Bishop Pearson s Exposition of the Creed, by 
Charles Burney, D. D. This respectable divine, and very emi¬ 
nent scholar, died Dec. 28, 1817 ; an event which produced no 
small degree of grief and sorrow on the part of all those con¬ 
nected with the republic of letters, of which he was a distin¬ 
guished ornament. He was the son of Dr. Burney, noticed 
April 13, 1814. 

♦ One part of Milton’s mode of education, as Dr. Johnson well 
remarks, deserves general imitation. He was careful to instruct 
his scholars in religion. Every Sunday was spent upon theology. 
He moreover set his pupils an example of early rising, hard study, 
and spare diet; and he drank little strong drink of any kind. 
See July 6, 1790, and Arith. Quest, art. Milton, Early Rising, 
and Roman Luxury. 


2 a 2 



532 


DECEMBER. 


pacy and monarchy. When Charles II. took shelter in 
Holland, he employed Salmasius, professor of polite learn¬ 
ing - at Leyden, to write a defence of his father and ot 
monarchy. To this performance Milton, in 1651, was 
required to pen a sufficient answer, for which he received 
1000/., and his book was much read. This success is said 
to have shortened the life of Salmasius.* 

Perceiving’ the king’s restoration unavoidable, Milton 
felt anxious for his own safety, and by the exertion of 
friends was included in the general amnesty. About the 
same time he removed to a housef in the Artillery Walk, 
leading to Bunhill Fields, and declined the offers of em¬ 
ployment rftade him by the court. His immortal poem, 
entitled “ Paradise Lost,” the copy-right of which he 
sold for only 15/., was published in 1667. In 1749, Bishop 
Newton published an edition of it in quarto, with notes of 
various authors. Milton died in 1674, and was interred 
near his father, in the chancel of St. Giles’s, Cripplegate; 
where a handsome monument was erected to his memory 
by the late Mr. Whitbread’s father. In 1737, a decent 
one was erected by Mr. Benson, in Westminster Abbey. 
Milton was married three times. His second wife was 
the daughter of Capt. Woodcock, of Hackney \ 


* See Sept. 3, 1653, and Arith. Quest, art. Salmasius. 

+ Dr. Johnson observes, that he cannot but remark a kind of 
respect paid to this great man by bis biographers: every house in 
which he resided is historically mentioned, as if it were an injury 
to neglect any place that he honoured with his presence. See 
Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Birth-place of Genius. 

I As the birth-place or residence of genius is always interesting 
to the cultivated mind, we embrace the present opportunity of 
informing our young readers, that the ancient, convenient, popu¬ 
lous, healthy, and opulent village of Hackney, has been the 
abode of many persons illustrious by birth and diguified by ta¬ 
lents. Its church contains the monuments of several noble fami¬ 
lies who were formerly inhabitants of this parish; and in more 
modern times it has been the residence of a Sheldon, a Henry,§ 
a Sutton, a Price, a Priestley, a Wakefield, and a Palmer. See 
Index.—Hackney gave birth to the philanthropic Howard, (see 
Jan. 20, 1790,) and to the celebrated Dr. South. 


1 Matthew Henry, author of an excellent Commentary on the Bi¬ 
ble, in 5 vols. fol. He was many years pastor of a Dissenting Con¬ 
gregation at Chester, and afterwards at Hackney. He died in 1714, 
at Nantwich, upon a journey, and was interred at Trinity Church, in 
Chester. 




DECEMBER. 


5.33 


9, 1730. Was born, in Carey Street, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, 
Thomas Mortimer, grandson of an eminent writer on 
Husbandry, of that name. He died at Somers Town, near 
London, in March 1810, very soon after the publication 
of his General Dictionary of Commerce. His other 
works are numerous and useful. 

10, 1801. Died, at Islington, Jonathan Battishill, an 
eminent musical composer, and a man of great taste and 
fine imagination. His “ Kate of Aberdeen” will be cele¬ 
brated as long as pure melody shall be admired in this 
country. He was born in London, in 1738. 

11, Commences the fishing for Salmon in the Tay, a noble 
Scotch river, which runs through Perth, and, it is said, 
pours into the ocean a greater quantity of water than any 
other river in Britain. The annual rents of the Tay are 
estimated at 7000/. sterling. The fishing season termi¬ 
nates on the 26th of August. See Arith. Quest, art. 
Salmon. 

— 1282. Llewellyn, the last of the Welsh princes, was 
slain at Llandweyr, in Radnorshire, not far from Bualth. 
He received his death-wound from the spear of one Ste¬ 
phen de Frankton, a common soldier. It was some time 
before his body was distinguished from his brave coun¬ 
trymen who had fallen by his side, for he had entered the 
field without armour and on foot, and there was no pecu¬ 
liarity in his dress or appearance to indicate his rank. 

— 1718. The Death of Charles XII., who was shot 
in the trenches of Frederickshall, a famous frontier town 
in the southern part of Norway, which he was then be¬ 
sieging. It has been generally said, that this “illustrious 
madman,” as he has been aptly styled, was killed by a 
cannon-shot from the walls of the town; but it is now 
supposed, that a pistol from some nearer hand, from one 
of those about him, gave the decisive blow which finished 
the career of this celebrated monarch. This opinion is 
said to be very prevalent among the best informed persons 
in Sweden. (See Bourn’s Guzetteer, art. Frederick¬ 
shall.) And it appears that the Swedes were tired of a 
prince under whom they had lost their richest provinces, 
their bravest troops, and their national riches; and who 
yet, untamed by adversity, pursued an unsuccessful and 
pernicious war, nor would have ever listened to the voice 
of peace, or consulted the true interests of his country. 
Various, however, are the conjectures, even at this day, 
concerning the fall of this rash hero: “ we must, there¬ 
fore,” as Mr. Wraxall observes, “ draw a veil over the 


534 


DECEMBER. 


ambiguous and dark transaction, and rest contented with 
that ignorance and uncertainty which so often wait on 
the deaths of sovereigns.” Dr. Johnson justly says of 
Charles XII. 

“ His fall was destined to a barren strand, 

A petty fortress, and a dubious hand • 

He left the name at which the world grew pale, 

To point a moral or adorn a tale.” 

11, 1732. Expired, John Gay, a celebrated poet, born at 
Barnstable, Devonshire, in 1688. His genius and amia¬ 
ble manners recommended him to several eminent persons, 
and among others to Swift and Pope; the last of whom 
he affirmed, that he “ loved as his own soul.”* His 
“ Beggar’s Opera” had a run unparalleled on the stage; 
and his “ Fables” will be read and admired so long as any 
taste for that kind of writing shall exist. In his poem of 
the “ Fan,” written perhaps to please his fair friends, he 
lias exerted elegance and delicacy of invention. Gay is 
an original author, who drew his images and sentiments 
from the store of his own observation. Few poets seem 
to have possessed a quicker and more observing eye. He 
was buried in Westminster Abbey, with this epitaph (writ¬ 
ten by himself) engraved on his tomb : 

“ Life is a jest, and all things show it; 

I thought so once, but now I know it.” 

A monument was erected to his memory by his gene¬ 
rous patrons the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, with 
an epitaph by Pope. 


* Gay was also the favourite of Pope, and was received into his 
utmost confidence; a friendship was formed between them 
which, says Johnson, lasted to their separation by death. In 
his “ Farewell to London,” Pope thus speaks of Gay : 

Adieu to all but Gay alone, 

Whose soul, sincere and free, 

Loves all mankind, but flatters none, 

And so may starve with me. 

He mentions him again in his Prologue to the “ Satires,” 
with all the pathetic seusibility of the tenderest friendship, in 
strains of supreme excellence : 

- They left me Gay ; 

Left me to see neglected Genius bloom, 

Neglected die, and tell it on his tomb; 

Of all thy blameless life the sole return 
My verse, and Queensb’ry weeping o’er thy urn. 





DECEMBER. 


535 


11, 1756. Expired, in St. Anne’s Parish, Westminster, 
Theodore,* King- of Corsica. He had for many years 
been confined in the King’s Bench and other prisons for 
debt, where he subsisted on the benevolence of private 
triends. Being released by an Act of Insolvency in 1756, 
he gave, in a schedule, the kingdom of Corsica as an 
estate to his creditors, and died the same year, at his 
lodgings in Chapel Street, Soho, aged 60. 

In the churchyard of St. Anne’s is a marble monument 
erected near the grave of this remarkable personage. The 
tablet was placed, and the following epitaph written, by 
the Honourable Horace Walpole, late Earl of Orford: 

The grave, great teacher ! to a level brings 
Heroes and beggars, galley-slaves and kings. 

But Theodore this moral learn’d ere dead: 

Fate pour’d its lesson on his living head, 

Bestow’d a kingdom, and deuied him bread. 

Pennant’s London , p. 127. 

— 1781. Expired, in the twenty-fourth year of her age, in 
consequence of her clothes taking fire the preceding 
evening, Elizabeth Picket, the amiable daughter of 
Alderman Picket, of London. On her monument, in 
the churchyard of Stoke Newington, Middlesex, are the 
following monitory lines :—“ Reader, if ever you should 
witness such an affecting scene, recollect, that the only 
method to extinguish the flame is, to stifle it by an im¬ 
mediate covering.” 

12, 1611. Expired, at Hackney, aged 79, Thomas Sut¬ 
ton, the patriotic founder of the Charter-House Charity 
in London. This magnificent endowment supports forty- 
four boys, and eighty decayed gentlemen, besides several 
students at the universities. Mr. Sutton was born at 
Knaith, a place on the Trent, three miles south of Gains- 


* Theodore Newhoff was borti of a noble family at Metz, in 
France, in 1669. Having a turn for political intrigue, he was 
employed in many secret commissions by Cardinal Alberoni, &c. 
In 1733, after certain stipulations between him and the Corsican 
malcontents, he agreed to become their king, and arriving in Cor¬ 
sica, he was elected its monarch, and crowned April 15, 1736. 
(See Alleria, Bourn’s Gazetteer.) Not being, however, properly 
supported by his subjects, he became a wanderer in most parts of 
Europe ; and soon after his arrival in England was arrested for 
debt, and detained some years a prisoner, till released by an Act 
of Insolvency. 



536 


DECEMBER. 


borough, in Lincolnshire; and he became an eminent 
merchant in the reign of Elizabeth. His wealth was 
great; but he was more distinguished by his integrity, 
generosity, and charity, than by his riches, which were 
gained by fair trade, by honourable posts under govern¬ 
ment, and even by deeds of arms. In a letter of marque 
he took a Spanish prize worth ^20,000; and he com¬ 
manded a bark called the Sutton, as a volunteer against 
the Spanish armada. On the death of his wife, in 1602, 
he retired from the world, and spent the remainder of his 
days in a private manner. He was interred in the chapel 
of his own hospital, where a costly monument was erected 
by his executors. A pleasant row of houses, recently 
erected near Hackney churchyard, has been denominated 
“Sutton Place” —His name on earth shall long re¬ 
main. See Psalm cxii. 6. 

12, 1718. Died Nicholas Rowe, an English dramatic 
poet, born at Little Berkford, in Bedfordshire, in 16/3. 
He wrote eight plays, and published an edition of Shak- 
speare’s works: but the most considerable of Rowe’s 
performances was, a translation of Lucan’s Pharsalia into 
English verse. Rowe succeeded Nahum Tate as Poet 
Laureate, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. See 
Arith. Quest, art. Pharsalia. 

— 1777. Albert Van Haller terminated his bright 
career, revered by men of literature, honoured by sove¬ 
reigns, and esteemed by all Europe; being not less distin¬ 
guished as a physician and a philosopher, than beloved 
as a man; nor more eminent in his skill for medical 
science, than for his piety to God and benevolence to all 
mankind. He was nominated by George II. to a pro¬ 
fessorship in the university of Gottingen, in Lower Sax¬ 
ony, Germany, where he continued seventeen years; but 
in the decline of life retired to his native city, Bern, in 
Switzerland, where he died, in the 75th year of his age. 

— 1804. Expired, in the 86th year of his age, John 
Boydell, an alderman of London, and a most distin¬ 
guished encourager of the arts of painting and engraving. 
He collected, at a vast expense, the paintings that formed 
the well-known “ Shakspeare Gallery,” which, in the 
Spring of 1804, was disposed of by lottery; and he had 
the satisfaction of living to see every ticket sold, but died 
before the decision of the wheel. Mr. Boydell was born 
at Dorrington, in Shropshire. See Arith. Quest. 10th 
edit., and Bourn’s Gazetteer, Dorrington and Stanton. 

13, 1553. Henry IV., King of France, was born at Pau, 


DECEMBER. 


537 


province of Bearn, department of the Lower Pyrenees, 
France * A tortoise-shell, which served as a cradle for 
this excellect monarch, is still preserved in the castle. 
See August 21, 1810, and Exer . on the Globes , 11th edit, 
art. Lyra. 

Nothing can he more delightful than the environs of 
Pau, enlivened as they are by vineyards, by undulating 
grounds, and by the meanderings of the river Gave. See 
Arith. Quest . art. Bourdeaux. 

13, 1577* Drake sailed from Plymouth on his voyage 
round the globe. He crossed the Pacific Ocean, passed 
the straits of Magellan, visited the Moluccas, touched at 
Java, and doubling the Cape of Good Hope, arrived at 
the sea-port from which lie had sailed, after an absence of 
nearly three years, exhibiting to the wondering eyes of 
his countrymen the first English ship , and the second in 
the world, that had circumnavigated the globe. 

— 1788. Died Charles III., king of Spain, who ascend¬ 
ed the throne on the death of his brother Ferdinand VI., 
in 1759. Though not so much lamented by his subjects 
as his brother, who, from his just, humane, and pacific 
disposition, acquired the enviable surname of Sage, he 
was not destitute of abilities; but his policy has been 
justly arraigned for endangering the Spanish empire in 
America, by supporting the independence of the British 
colonies. Charles was succeeded by his son Charles IV. 
See Jan. 20, 1819. 

— 1807. Jeffrey, a seaman, was most inhumanly left 
on the barren, uninhabited island or rock of Sombrera,f 
half naked, and with neither victuals nor drink, where he 
continued eight days and a half. By waving a large straw 
hat which he wore, he, after many fruitless efforts on 
various ships, caught the notice of an American vessel 
that landed him at Marble-Head,];—and had he not suc¬ 
ceeded in this last attempt, he must, from extreme 
debility, have perished! When this poor sufferer had 
indulged his last hope, and his heart was sinking within 


* See May 14, 1610, June 13, 1625, and Dec. 21, 1641. 

t Sombrera is situated adjacent to the Virgin Islands, in the 
West Indies, a few leagues N. W. of Anguilla, lat. about 18 N. 
long 63 West. Its resemblauce to a hat occasioned it to be thus 
named by the Spaniards. 

♦ Marble-Head is a town of Massachusetts, in New England, 
four miles north of Salem. 


2 a 3 



538 


DECEMBER. 


him, how feelingly might he have addressed the author of 
his calamity, the Honourable Captain Lake, in the lan¬ 
guage of Job, chap. xxx. 20, 21 ! But the good Provi¬ 
dence of God watched over him, and the victim of cruelty 
was delivered. He returned to England in 1810, and 
received the sum of ^600 from his persecutor, as a com¬ 
pensation for the horrid barbarity of his unexampled 
sufferings.* This remuneration was entirely owing to 
the humane and patriotic conduct of Sir Francis Bur- 
dett, who had nobly advocated his cause in the House of 
Commons, in 1809. 

14, 1542. James V., of Scotland, died of a broken heart 
at his palace of Falkland, in the 31st year of his age, and 
the 30th of his reign. James’s mind was powerful, but 
uncultivated. He was violent, arbitrary, and implacable, 
but was warm in his friendships, devoted to the welfare 
of his people, and so condescending and affable to the 
lowest of his subjects, that he has been distinguished by 
the most honourable appellation which a monarch can 
receive,—the King of the Poor. See December 8, 1542, 
and Bourn’s Gazetteer , Falkland, Linlithgow, and Sol¬ 
way. 

— 1785. Died John Baptist Cipriani, a famous Italian 
painter, settled in England. His numerous productions, 
spread over all Europe by the graver of Francis Barto- 
Lozzi,f breathe grace and beauty; and the great variety 
of his designs, the expression of his figures, the delicacy 
of his heads, and the exquisite neatness of his contours, 
caused him to be regarded as a very capital master. 

— 1799. Died that consummate patriot, general, and 
statesman, George Washington. The United States 
owe to him the conquest of their liberties, the settlement 
of their tranquillity, and the establishment of their happy 
constitution, and he may safely be pronounced to have 
left the purest and brightest fame that history has ever 


* See Sept. 1, 1651, and Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Selkirk. 

f This celebrated artist was born at Florence, in 1730. He ex¬ 
ercised his rare talents at Venice, Florence, and Milan, and came 
to London in 1764. He went to Lisbon in 1802, and continued 
to employ his unabated, splendid, and unrivalled abilities in that 
city till his death, in 1815. He was one of the few artists to 
whom his own times have rendered justice, and whose merit has 
been remunerated by the high price of his works, which amount¬ 
ed, it is said, to the amazing number of 2054 1 




DECEMBER. 


539 


awarded to citizen, general, or statesman. From the 
cautious conduct of this commander during the seven 
years’contest with England, he received the title of the 
American Fabius. See April 30, 1789, August 24, and 
Dec. 24, 1814. 

15. The Greeks celebrate the feast of Onesimus, a Phry¬ 
gian by nation, a slave to Philemon, and a disciple of 
the apostle Paul. Having robbed his master, and also 
absconded from him, he went to Rome about A. D. 61, 
while St. Paul was there in prison. As Onesimus knew 
him by repute, (his master Philemon being a Christian,) 
he sought him out, and acquainted him with what he had 
done. St. Paul brought him to a sense of his crime, and 
sent him back to his master with a conciliatory letter.* 
Returning again to that apostle, he was afterwards em¬ 
ployed in the ministry of the Gospel. Some say that 
Paul made him bishop of Berea, in Macedonia; others, 
that he appointed him to discharge that office at Ephesus, 
as the successor of Timothy. The martyrologies call him 
an apostle, and say that he ended his life by martyrdom. 
See January 22, 97. 

— 1582. Gregorian Style adopted at Paris. See Sept. 
2, 1752. 

— 1810. Died, at Brentford, in Middlesex, aged 69, Mrs. 
Sarah Trimmer, well known by her various publications 
during a period of nearly thirty years. They are almost 
entirely confined to subjects connected with the education 
of children, laudably including in that description the too 
long neglected offspring of the poor. 

Mrs. Trimmer paid great attention to the instruction 
of a numerous family, and in the maternal character 
appears to have been very exemplary. She was peculiarly 
favoured in the circumstances of her dissolution. While 
sitting in her chair, perusing the letters of a deceased 
friend, she sunk, as it were, into a peaceful slumber. She 
was buried at Ealing, a parish in which the Sunday- 
schools (instituted in 1786, by the Rev. Charles Sturges) 
have been particularly efficacious, chiefly through her 
persevering attention. Mrs. Trimmer was born at Ips¬ 
wich, in Suffolk. 

16, 1653. Cromwell was ceremoniously inaugurated 
Lord Protector of England, in the Chancery Court at 
Westminster. 


* See November 22, art. Philemon. 




540 


DECEMBER. 


16, 1783. Expired, of an apoplexy, in his 63d year. Sir 
William James, Bart., a native of Milford-Haven, in 
Wales, who followed the humble occupation of a plough- 
boy till he was twelve years old, when he became a 
sailor. Tn a course of years, by his good conduct and 
superior talents, he obtained the command of a ship, 
and at length was appointed commander-in-chief of the 
East-India Company’s marine forces in Asia. In this 
capacity he distinguished himself by taking Severn- 
Droog, and Gheriah, with all its dependencies.* Having 
returned home with a considerable fortune, he became a 
Member of Parliament, an East-India Director, Chairman 
to the East-India Company, Deputy-Master of the Trinity 
House, Governor of Greenwich Hospital, and had the 
honour of a Baronetage conferred upon him by his 
Majesty. It is much to the credit of Sir William, that he 
was never ashamed of his origin ; being totally void of 
that false pride generally attendant on sudden elevation, 
which often induces both families and individuals to throw 
a veil over their birth. And yet, when this subject is 
soberly canvassed, surely nothing can be more ridiculous; 
for is it not more honourable to be the origin, rather than 
the mere continuator, of an opulent and respectable race 
—the root, in preference to the branch, of an aspiring 
progeny? The prejudices of mankind are, however, in 
this instance, as in many others, at variance with reason ; 
and we seldom find men coming forward like the venera¬ 
ble Franklin, who candidly owned, during his embassy 
from America to the French court, that he was the son 
of a tallow-chandler ; and commenced his will, some time 
previous to his decease, with the recognition of his being 
a printer, and minister plenipotentiary.f The want of 
this manly boldness has overshadowed the early life of 
many celebrated men, and concealed a variety of interest¬ 
ing and instructive circumstances from the public eye. 

— 1798. Expired, in his 73d year, at Downing, his natal 
place and seat, in Flintshire, Thomas Pennant, who 
happily intermingled activity abroad with industry in the 
closet, and who employed that leisure which an inde¬ 
pendent fortune bestowed upon him, in cultivating the 
character, and meriting the reputation, of an enlightened 
antiquary, and of an indefatigable naturalist. By his 
accurate and elaborate works on British and Indian Zoo- 


* See April 2, 1755. 


f See April 17, 1790. 



DECEMBER. 


5-41 


logy, lie distinguished himself still more than by the 
minute, and frequently curious, information contained 
in his account of London, and his Tours in England, in 
Scotland, and in Wales. He will long be remembered 
with gratitude by the lovers of nature and of science. 
Mr. Pennant’s literary character has been displayed by 
himself in a pleasing publication,* from which may also 
be collected matters yet more interesting to society. In 
this performance we view him in the light of an honest 
and useful magistrate, of a free spirit, among his Welsh 
neighbours ; and we see the kind master to dependents, 
whose services and merits are acknowledged with just 
liberality. The grateful affection expressed in a monu¬ 
mental inscription over Lewis Gold, an old servant, at¬ 
tracts particular notice, when combined with the style 
in which he mentions other confidential servants then 
living; as we understand from the whole, that Mr. Pen¬ 
nant was not one who withheld his generous attentions 
till the objects of his regard were unable to receive the 
benefit of them. A good master will retain none but 
good servants ; and when these characters meet, they 
naturally find out the value of each other. See Nov. 5, 
1725, and Arith. Quest, art. Servants. 

17, 1154. Henry II. was crowned at Westminster. He 
was the first of the Plantagenet line.f 

— 1688. The Prince of Orange’s forces took posses¬ 
sion of all the posts about Whitehall and St. James’s; 
and James II. was ordered to depart for Ham,J a seat 


* The Literary Life of the late Thomas Pennant, Esq., by Him¬ 
self. Published in 1 793. 

f Antiquaries are much at a loss to account for the origin of 
this appellation ; the best derivation is, that Fulk, the first Earl 
of Anjou of that name, being stung with remorse for some wicked 
action, went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem as an atonement; 
where being soundly scourged with broom twigs, which grew 
plentifully on the spot, he ever after took the name of Planta¬ 
genet, or broomstalk, which was retained by his noble posterity. 
Ency. Brit. art. Plantagenet. 

+ Ham-House is situated on the banks of the Thames, near 
Richmond, in Surrey. It has been celebrated by Thomson. Ad¬ 
jacent to this beautiful village resided Timothy Bennet, a true 
patriotic Briton, who, by a vigorous application of the laws of his 
country in the cause of liberty, obtained a free passage through 
Bushy Park, which had many years been withheld from the peo¬ 
ple. See Arith. Quest, 10th edition. 



542 


DECEMBER. 


of the duchess of Lauderdale ; but he desired permission 
to retire to Rochester, whither he was conducted by a 
Dutch guard, and whence, a few days after, he made his 
escape to France. 

17 , 1717 - Was born at Deal, in Kent, Elizabeth Car¬ 
ter, (daughter of the Rev. Nicholas Carter, D. D.,) a 
lady who enjoyed the singular good fortune of being re¬ 
spected on account of her talents during the greater part 
of a century; and also of preserving, or rather increas¬ 
ing, her reputation from youth until the verge of ninety.* 
She was well acquainted with many ancient and modern 
languages ; but it was with Greek that she solaced her 
learned leisure, and delighted the hours of retirement. 
And it was the translation of the works of Epictetusf 
that principally conferred credit on her talents, and gave 
currency to her reputation as a learned woman. This 
estimable lady died in 1806. 

— 1788. The Russians, under Prince Potemkin,]; took 
Oczakow, a town and fortress lately of Turkey in Europe, 
but now included in New Russia, or the government of 
Catherinenslaf. It is seated at the mouth of the river 
Dnieper, W. of Cherson. The town was given up to 
plunder; and the victors abandoned themselves, as usual, 
to all the horrors of debauchery and rapine. The scenes 
of riot and slaughter lasted three whole days, and cost the 


* See November 23, 1804. 

f Epictetus was an ancient Stoic philosopher, born near the 
end of Nero’s reign, as is commonly supposed, at Hierapolis, in 
Phrygia.§ He was the slave of Epaphroditus, the freedmau of 
Nero ; but when, or by what means, he obtained his liberty, does 
not appear. When Domitiau banished the philosophers from 
Rome, he left that city, but returned to it on the death of the 
tyrant, and gained the esteem of Adrian and Marcus Aurelius. 
He preferred poverty to riches, and resided in a cottage which 
had no furniture but an earthen lamp, which was sold after his 
death for 3,000 drachmas.|| His Enchiridion, or Compendium 
of the Stoic Philosophy, abounds with the purest maxims of 
morality, expressed with great energy and plainness. Epictetus 
died at an advauced age, but it is uncertain when that event 
occurred. 

] See Index, and Arith. Quest, art. Jewel. 


\ See Geo.Exer. on the New Testament . 

il See Arith . Quest, art. Earthenware, Stoics, and Zeno. 





DECEMBER. 543 

lives of more than 25,000 Turks. In making the assault 
the Russians lost 12,000 men. 

18, 1688. The Prince of Orange arrived at St. James’s, 
where he received the congratulations of the nobility and 
persons of quality. 

— 1771* Died, in the 81st year of his age, the great bo¬ 
tanist, Philip Miller, a native of Scotland, and author 
of the celebrated “ Gardener’s Dictionary ” He was 
nearly fifty years gardener to the Apothecaries’ Company, 
at their physic-garden at Chelsea,* where he was visited 
by the famous Linneeus.f Pie was succeeded in this 
situation by his pupil, William Forsyth, F. A. S., who 
continued here till 1784; when he was appointed by his 
majesty chief superintendent of the royal gardens at 
Kensington and St. James’s, which he held till his death, 
in 1804. 

The Linnaean and Horticultural Societies of London 
erected, in 1815, a handsome monument to the memory 
of Philip Miller, in Chelsea churchyard, where he was 
interred. 

— 1781. Died, Soame Jenyns, well known in the lite¬ 
rary world as the author of “The Internal Evidence 
of the Christian Religion an “ Essay on the Origin of 
Eviland various poetical pieces. He was born in 
London, in 1705, and was many years M. P. for the 
town of Cambridge. 

— 1809. Died, the Rev. Alexander Adam, LL. D., 
born at Ratford, in Elgin, or Murrayshire, 1741. This 
excellent and useful man was engaged for forty years in 
teaching the Rector’s class of the High School, in Edin¬ 
burgh ; and combined, in an eminent degree, those quali¬ 
ties which rendered him an object of his scholars’affec¬ 
tionate attachment, with those which commanded their 
respect and enforced their assiduous application to the 
business of study. We have never, observes a popular 
writer, met with any thing more beautifully characte¬ 
ristic than the manner of his death. He lingered five 
days under his last disease.—“ Amidst the wanderings 
of his mind that accompanied it, lie was constantly re¬ 
verting to the business of the class, and addressing the 
boys. In the last hour of his life, as he fancied himself 
examining on the lesson of the day, he stopped short, 
and said, ‘But it grows dark— You may go!'” He 


* See Jan. 11, 1753. 


t See Jan. 10, 1778. 



544 


DECEMBER. 


almost immediately expired. There is a pathos in the 
suitableness of these words which we think no poetical 
conception has ever surpassed. Never did the final cur¬ 
tain fall with more simple grace. An expiring teacher 
of youth, thus waving a dismissal to what he most loved 
and regarded in the world, as the effacing hand of death 
fell heavily upon his senses, is an image which the mind 
contemplates as sublime, and by which the sympathies 
of his fellow-mortals are influenced to a melancholy 
tenderness. If it be an instance of the ruling passion 
strong in death, it is of the ruling duty become a pas¬ 
sion.—But it grows dark—you may go! This, con¬ 
tinues our author, puts one in mind of Shakspeare’s 
luckiest inventions.* 

Dr. Adam was the author of those very useful works, 
A Summary of Geography and History, both Ancient 
and Modern ; Roman Antiquities; Classical Biography, 
&c., &e. 

19, 1683. Was born at Versailles, Philip duke of Anjou, 
who on the death of Charles II., in 1700, became king 
of Spain, under the title of Philip V., and was the first 
of the Bourbons that reigned in that kingdom. He was 
extremely hypochondriac, and at times, without any ap¬ 
parent illness, would continue in bed for six months, 
without changing his linen, or permitting a razor to 
touch his face, at the same time preserving a melan¬ 
choly silence. In 1724,f he resigned his crown to his 
eldest son, Louis, and retired to St. Ildefonso with his 
consort; but, his son dying soon afterwards, he was 
obliged to resume the cares of government, and con¬ 
tinued to reign with great attention to the improvement 
of the commerce and advantage of his kingdom till his 
death, which occurred July 9th, 1746. He was suc¬ 
ceeded by his son Ferdinand VI., called the Sage, who 
died in 1759. 

—. 1793. Toulon was recaptured by the French.;*; The 
only thing, says an ingenious traveller, which the English 
have to console them under the loss of Toulon is, that. 


* An aged minister, known to the compiler of the present 
work, used to express a wish, that his last words might be the 
prayer of the Publican and Stephen conjoined. See December 
25, 1758, and Arith. Quest, art. Beaufort, Cardinal. 

t See Jan. 4. 


X See Aug. 28, 1793. 




DECEMBER. 


545 


upon the best calculation, it cost, while in their posses¬ 
sion, from <€20,000 to €25,000 per day. 

20, 1697. Died, in Lombard Street, London, that “ God¬ 
like man,” Thomas Firmin, whose chief delight it 
was to scatter the blessings of benevolence over the 
habitation of distress; to raise the drooping head of pining 
worth ; to promote the industry of the poor; to bestow 
rewards on the children of labour; and to search into the 
cause that he knew not :* * 

“ In misery’s darkest cavern known, 

His useful care was ever nigh. 

Where hopeless anguish pour’d his groan, 

And lonely want retir’d to die.” 

Mr. Firmin’s virtues, though of the most exalted 
kind, were such as all may, at least in some degree, 
imitate. It was not by the help of extraordinary know¬ 
ledge in any art or science, that he attracted high esteem 
from numbers of his contemporaries of great note and 
eminence (for many of his most intimate friends were 
among the very highest classes of society); but he gained 
honourable fame by a diligent application to business , 
a prevailing inclination to do good, and a serious attention 
to the incomparable precepts of our most holy religion. 
He was born at Ipswich, in Suffolk, in 1632, and was 
buried, according to his desire, in the cloisters of Christ 
Church Hospital, where a very plain tablet records his 
virtues. Some further particulars concerning this great 
and good man may be seen in the Arith. Quest. 

— 1810. New Picture Gallery at Dulwich. On 
this day Sir Francis Bourgeois bequeathed his fine 
collection of pictures to Dulwich College, in the county 
of Surrey, to be there kept and preserved for the inspec¬ 
tion of the public. The members of the college entered 
into the liberal views of the donor with great spirit, and, 
finding their old picture gallery wholly unfit for the 
purpose, determined to erect an entirely new building, 
worthy of the magnificent collection which was to be 


* See Job xxix. 16. A sentiment of noble import, and a de¬ 
partment of moral conduct which, it has been remarked, is less 
frequently filled than some others, and might be happily enforced 
by religious instructors. 

Above all duties let the rich man search 
Into the cause he knoweth not. 

* The Sabbatii, a Poem. 




546 


DECEMBER. 


there placed; and accordingly they employed Mr. Soane, 
whose abilities as an architect, and zeal in promoting 
and protecting the fine arts of the kingdom, are well 
known, to design and erect an edifice, at once suitable 
to the place and to the munificent donation. The new 
building was begun in 1811, and finished in 1814; it 
displays great taste and science. 

The collection consists of three hundred and seventy- 
one pictures, many of which are works of high merit. 
They are, principally, paintings by the old masters, the 
greater part being of the Flemish and Dutch schools, 
though there are some very fine productions of other 
nations. There are two catalogues of this superb col¬ 
lection in existence; one in the first volume of the 
Annals of the Fine Arts, which is both explanatory 
and critical; and another sold at the Gallery, with mere 
titles and names, without any remarks. 

If we admit with Pope, and the pages of history bear 
witness to the truth of his remark, that 

“ Freedom and arts together fall,” 

we must surely allow, that the improvement of the arts 
is favourable to the extension of liberty. The truth is, 
that the fine arts can never be generally encouraged in 
any country without producing a correspondent expan¬ 
sion of the public mind ; and the knowledge and feelings 
which attend the cultivation of the intellectual faculties, 
are as completely inimical to the sway of despotism , as 
they are to the dogmas of superstition. When the an¬ 
cients placed Minerva at the head of the arts, it was 
their meaning that pure wisdom was essential to study; 
and that perfection would only be attained by the union 
of a vigorous intellect with an enlightened taste and cor¬ 
rect judgment. The man who possesses a justly-culti¬ 
vated understanding, enjoys a thousand pleasures unknown 
to the vulgar. 

-Whate’er adorns 

The princely dome, the column, and the arch. 

The breathing marbles, and the sculptur’d gold. 

Beyond the proud possessor’s narrow claim 
His tuneful breast enjoys.— 

Akenside. 

Sir Francis Bourgeois was born in London, in 1756, 
died in 1811, and was buried in Dulwich College. See 
Annals of the Fine Arts , Vol. I. p. 370, and Vol. III. pp. 
39, &c. 



DECEMBER. 


547 


21, Is the festival of St. Thomas the apostle, otherwise 
called Didymus, i. e. in Greek, a twin. There is no 
doubt hut he was a Galilean, as well as the other apostles; 
but the place of his birth and the circumstances of his 
vocation are unknown. He was appointed an apostle 
A. D. 31,* and continued to follow our Lord during the 
three years of his preaching. We know no particulars 
of his life till A. D. 32, when he encouraged the apostles 
to accompany Christ to the grave of Lazarus ;f but he 
afterwards gave a remarkable proof of incredulity in re¬ 
fusing to believe that his Divine Master was risen from 
the dead.]; This unbelief was, however, shortly after 
cured by our Lord’s condescension in giving him an 
opportunity of satisfying himself in the way he desired,§ 
and at a subsequent period he dined with him and some 
other apostles near the sea of Galilee. || We have no 
certain history of St. Thomas or his preaching; but 
tradition says, that in the distribution of the apostles to 
the several parts of the world to propagate the gospel, 
the country of the Parthians^T was allotted to him. It is 
also added that he preached in Media,®!! - Persia,^ - the 
Indies, and China. There are, it is said, Christians who 
dwell in a peninsula of the Indus, and in other parts 
of the Indies, who go by the name of St. Thomas.* § ** Some 
say that this holy man suffered martyrdom ; others, that 
he died by the hands of infidels, and was buried at Goa; 
while others affirm, that his body was conveyed to Edessa, 
in Mesopotamia,ff where he was always highly honoured. 

— 1641. Expired, Maximilian de Bethune, Duke of 
Sully, a marshal of France, prime minister to Henry 
IV., one of the ablest and most honest statesmen that 
France ever had. His “ Memoirs,” which have always 
been ranked among the best books of French history, 
contain a minute account of what passed from the peace 
in 1570 to the murder of his royal master in 1610,]]; 
when he withdrew from court, and spent the remainder 


* Luke vi. 13—15. + John xi. 16. ] John xx. 25. 

§ John xx. 26—29. || John xxi. 1, &c., &c. 

*[ See Geo. Ever. on the Neic Testament. 

** See Bourn’s Gaz. art. Thome, 
ft See Geo. Ever, on the Neiv Testament. 

]] See December 29, 1594, and May 14, 1610. 



548 


DECEMBER. 


of his days in dignified and virtuous retirement. He was 
born in 1559, at Rosni, near Mantes. 

21, 1804. Began the Winter Quarter, the sun having 
entered into the constellation yf, the Goat,* at twenty- 
seventy minutes past eleven at night.f 

After Summer evermore succeeds 
The barren Winter with the nipping cold. 

Shakspeare. 

Day and night, 

Seed-time and harvest, heat and hoary frost, 

Shall hold their course,4 till fire purge all things new, 

Both heav’n and earth wherein the just shall dwell.§ 

Milton. 

This period is usually called the Winter Solstice, or 
shortest day, in the northern hemisphere, while in the 
southern one it is the longest The sun is something less 
than eight hours above the horizon, even in the southern 
parts of our island. 

Hung o’er the farthest verge of heav’n, the sun 
Scarce spreads thro’ ether the dejected day. 

Faint are his gleams, and ineffectual shoot 
His struggling rays, in horizontal lines, 

Thro’ the thick air; as cloth’d in cloudy storm, 

Weak, wan, and broad, he skirts the southern sky; 

And, soon descending, to the long dark night. 

Thomson. 

Winter now reigns over the northern hemisphere; while 
the southern one enjoys the luxuriance of Summer. 

22, 1738. Was born at Lambeth, in Surrey, Thomas 
Banks, an eminent sculptor, whose admirable works are 
too numerous to be here detailed. We shall, therefore, 
only mention the monument of Sir Eyre Coote, in West¬ 
minster Abbey. This renowned commander of the East- 
India Company’s forces in India, died at Madras, in 1783. 
Mr. Banks expired in 1805. 

— 1788. Expired, in his 76th year, at his native city, 
London, Percival Pott, F. R. S., who was surgeon to 
Bartholomew’s Hospital nearly half a century, and who, 
by an active mind and unremitting attention, arrived at 


* See Exer. on the Globes , art. Caprieornus. 

+ In 1822, the sun eutered Caprieornus at 40 minutes past 8 
in the morning, and in 1830, at 8 minutes past 7. 

X See Gen. viii. 22. § See 2 Peter iii. 12, 13. 



DECEMBER. 


549 


the summit of his profession. His numerous publications, 
evince strong’ marks of genius, display sound judgment, 
and are highly useful The day before his decease, he 
said, “ My lamp is almost extinguished; I hope it has 
burned for the good of others” See Oct. 14, 1601. 

22, 1790. Ismael, a strong town of Bessarabia, in Tur¬ 
key in Europe, was taken by storm by the Russians. 
These merciless ruffians, deaf to the cries of age or in¬ 
nocence, and utterly callous to the “ compunctious vi- 
sitings of nature,’’ massacred the garrison, consisting of 
30,000 men, (whose bravery merited, and would have 
received from any but a brutal foe, the highest honour,) 
in cold blood. The place itself was also abandoned to 
the ferocious soldiery. See Praga, November 8, 1794. 

23,1588. Henry of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, an impe¬ 
rious, turbulent and seditious subject of Henry III. of 
France, was assassinated at Blois, in the department of 
Loire and Cher, province of Orleannois, by order of that 
monarch, and in his presence, at eight o’clock in the 
morning. 

Blindly the scornful prince provok’d his fate, 

And fell beneath the injur’d monarch’s hate : 

Valois stood witness of th’ unkingly deed ; 

Gor’d with dishonest wounds, he saw him bleed. 

Trans, of the Henriade. 

His brother, the Cardinal, shared the same fate the next 
day. Both these vile deeds were perpetrated by the 
roval command. The duke was in the 38th year of his 
age, and one of the handsomest, wdttiest, most coura¬ 
geous, and eloquent men of his time. He was in the 
battle of Jarnac and that of Chateau Thierry. In this 
last he was severely wounded in the face, and was 
afterwards called by the distinctive epithet Balafre. Blois 
was the natal place of the amiable Louis XII. See Jan. 1, 
1515. 

— 1688. James II. escaped from Rochester, and arrived 
safely at Ambleteuse, in the department of the Straits of 
Calais, province of Picardy, France, whence he hastened 
to St. Germain’s, where he was received by Louis XIV. 
with the highest generosity, sympathy, and regard. 

— 1798. News arrived in London of our having captured 
the island of Minorca, in the Mediterranean. This island 
and Majorca were called by the Greeks Balearides, and 
by the Latins Baleares , from the dexterity of the inhabi- 


550 


DECEMBER. 


tants at slinging 1 . Port Mahon,* * * § in Minorca, is esteemed 
one of the most commodious harbours in Europe. It is 
defended by the castle of St. Philip.f 

23, 1825. Died at his house in Mecklenburgh Square, 
Samuel Parkes, Esq., author of several interesting 
publications on Chemistry. He was no less distinguished 
for his beneficence than for his ardour, diligence, and 
perseverance, in the pursuit of science. 

24, Is the festival of Nahum, the seventh of the twelve 
minor prophets, who, according to some accounts, was 
a native of Bethabara beyond Jordan.]; Opinions are 
divided as to the period in whidh he delivered his pro¬ 
phecy. It consists of three chapters only, making but 
one discourse, containing a fine description of the de¬ 
struction of Nineveh,§ related in so lively and pathetic a 
manner, that he seems to have been on the very spot. 

— 1247- Died, at Kirklees, between Halifax and Wake¬ 
field, in Yorkshire, the famous Robin Hood, captain of a 
notorious band of robbers, who infested the forest of Sher¬ 
wood, in Nottinghamshire, and thence made excursions 
to many parts of England in search of booty, but never 
proceeded to acts of cruelty, except in his own defence. 
His kindness and charity to the poor, and many acts of 
generosity, have produced a sort of friendly feeling to¬ 
wards him, notwithstanding the irregularity of his life. 
Camden calls him the gentlest thief that ever was. || 

From wealthy Abbots’ chests, and churles’ abundant store, 
What often times he took, he shared among the poor : 


* Mahon gives the title of Viscount to the Earl of Stanhope. 
When the island was captured by the English, in 1708, the fleet 
was commanded by Sir John Leake, and the army by Lieutenant 
General Stanhope. See July 1, 1691, and August 1, 1798. 

t It was for not relieving this fortress in 1756, that the ill- 
fated Admiral Byng suffered death. See March 14, 1757. 

+ See Geo. Exer. on the New Testament. 

§ See Geo. Exer. on the New Testament. 

|1 Robin Hood’s chief companion was Little John. A paper, 
in Ashmqle’s hand-writing in the Oxford Museum, says, the 
famous Little John (Robin Hood’s companion) lies buried in 
Hethersedge churchyard, in the Peak of Derbyshire ; one stone 
at his head, another at his feet; and part of his bow hangs up in 
the church. 



DECEMBER. 


551 


No lordly bishop came in Robin’s way. 

To him, before he went, his pass must pay : 

The widow in distress he graciously relieved ; 

And remedied the wrongs of many a virgin grieved. 

24, 1525. Expired, at Cochin,* Vasco de Gama, a Por¬ 
tuguese admiral, celebrated for his discovery of the way 
to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. He was 
sent to India by King Emanuel in 1497,f and after visit¬ 
ing several parts of that country, returned to Portugal 
in 1502, and sailed thither again with thirteen vessels 
richly laden ; having been made viceroy of the Indies by 
.John III. Gama was a native of Sines, in the south¬ 
west part of Portugal, and of noble birth; possessed of 
virtue, prudence, and courage, equal to the important sta¬ 
tions in which he was placed by his sovereigns. The ambi¬ 
tious tyrant Philip II., King of Spain, annexing Portugal, 
in 1578, to his own dominions by force of arms, put a 
stop to all further discoveries of the Portuguese; and 
the Dutch afterwards became masters of some of their 
most valuable acquisitions. 

— 1808. Expired, in his 49th year, at Clifton, near Bris¬ 
tol, Thomas Beddoes, M. D., whose character, whe¬ 
ther contemplated as a member of society, filling the 
relations of husband, father, and friend; or as a phy¬ 
sician and man of science, affords much to admire and 
to commend. He was correct in his general conduct, 
and exemplary in the discharge of all domestic and 
social duties ; and notwithstanding the superiority of his 
mental attainments, and the rank to which his talents 
had elevated him, it is remarked by his able biographer, 
that he never appeared to greater advantage than in the 
company of his Mother; towards whom he uniformly 
conducted himself with mingled respect and attention to 
the close of his life.;}; As a medical writer, his descrip¬ 
tions of diseases will be always interesting for the lively 
pictures which they contain; and his powerful declama¬ 
tory eloquence is admirably adapted for impressing the 
minds of the uninformed, and for exciting the attention 
of the indolent. His principal work was entitled “Hy- 


* Cochin is a seaport of Hindostan, on the Malabar coast, 
120 miles S. by E. of Calicut. 

•p See July 9, 1497, and Sept. 16, 1795. 

♦ See Biddle, Bacon, Pope, and Warburton, Index. 




552 


DECEMBER. 


geia.”* Dr. Beddoes was born, in 1760, at Shiffnal,f in 
Shropshire. Dr. Stock’s Memoirs of Dr. Beddoes. 

24, 1814. Peace between England and America. The 
preliminaries of peace between these states were signed 
at Ghent, and afterwards ratified. The United States 
and Great Britain being in reality the only two free 
nations in the world, Providence seems to have formed 
them for a close alliance; and the friends of freedom 
must sincerely hope, that they may ever continue a joint 
example and lesson to the world of the necessary con¬ 
nexion between liberty, civil and religious, and national 
prosperity and greatness. 

25, The Nativity. This word denotes the day of one’s 
birth, but it is chiefly used in speaking of saints ; and 
when we say emphatically, “ the Nativity,” that of Jesus 
Christ, or the feast of Christmas, is understood. Several 
learned commentators have, however, contended that our 
Saviour could not have been born in the month of De¬ 
cember; as it is not probable, they maintain, that the 
flocks should have been exposed to the coldness of winter 
nights in the climate of Judea, where, as Dr. Shaw has 
shewn, they were so very unwholesome.J Indeed, there 
is strong reason to consider the common calculation re¬ 
specting the time of Christ’s nativity to be erroneous. 
But as the precise time of the year wherein our Saviour 
was born is not a matter of great importance, it is no 
where mentioned in the New Testament, which was 
written to bring men to the fear and worship of one God, 
and the practice of righteousness, and not to satisfy their 
curiosity in matters of little significance. 

— 496. Clovis, the first Christian king of France, was 
crowned at Rheims. 

— 16/6. Died, Sir Matthew Hale, a most learned and 
upright lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, 
born at Alderly, south of Wotton-under-Edge, in Glou¬ 
cestershire, Nov. 1, 1609. Whilst educating at Oxford, 
he fell into many levities and extravagances; but at length 
resolved upon the study of the law, and was admitted of 
Lincoln’s-Inn, where he became as grave as he had be¬ 
fore been gay. He studied at the rate of sixteen hours 
a-day, and his attainments were wonderful: for he had, 
besides his peculiar profession, a considerable knowledge 
in the civil law, in the mathematics, physic, and surgery; 


* See Index. 


f See Index. 


I Travels, p. 379, 



DECEMBER. 


553 


the various branches of philosophical learning’; but above 
all, divinity seems to have been his chief study. His 
principal works are on law, morality, divinity, and physic. 
It is incredible, says Burnet, that one man, in no great 
compass of years, should have acquired such a variety of 
knowledge, and that in sciences which require much 
leisure and application; but he rose always betimes in 
the morning; was never idle; scarcely ever held any dis¬ 
course about news ;* entered into no correspondence by 
letters, except about necessary business, or matters of 
learning, and spent very little time in eating and drink¬ 
ing ; observing, in this respect, not only great plainness 
and moderation, but living so philosophically, that he 
always ended his meal with an appetite, and was conse¬ 
quently fit for any exercise of the mind immediately 
after. By these means he gained a great deal of time. 


* Dr. Cotton Mather (who was a man of uncommon de¬ 
spatch and activity in the management of his numerous affairs, 
and improved every minute of his time), that he might not suffer 
by silly, impertinent, and tedious visitors, wrote over his study- 
door, in large letters, Be short. See February 13, 1728, and 
November 13, 1690. 

Uksinus, a professor in the university of Heidelburgh,f and a 
diligent scholar, to prevent gossips and idlers from interrupting 
him in his hours of study, wrote over the door of his library the 
following lines; 

Amice, quisquis, hue venis, « 

Aut agito paucis, aut abi. 

“ Friend, whoever thou art that comest hither, either briefly de¬ 
spatch thy business, or be gone.” Zachary Ursinus was born at 
Breslau, in Silesia, in 1534, and died in 1583. 

The learned Scaliger placed the following sentence over the 
entrance into his study : “ Tempus meum est ager meus”—“ My 
time is my field or estate and it is frequently the only valuable 
field which the labourer in body or mind possesses. 

Ever hold time too precious to be spent 
With babblers. 

Shakspeare’s Aphorisms. 

'fhe society even of our friends must be enjoyed with caution.— 
“ Amici fures temporis,” says Lord Bacon : “Friends are robbers 
of our time.” The right use of time is powerfully advocated in 
“ The Bioscope,” by Granville Penn, Esq., a gentleman of known 
learning and piety. 


t See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Wine, German. 

2 B 





554 


DECEMBER. 


which others, for the most part, waste unprofitably. As 
he never went to public feasts, so he gave no entertain¬ 
ments but to the poor,* on whom he moreover bestowed 
the tenth penny of all he earned.f He was interred by 
his own desire in the churchyard of his native place. See 
July 7, 1713. 

25, 1720. Was born at Chichester, William Collins, 
one of the greatest masters of the British lyre. While 
at Magdalen College, Oxford, he published four Persian 
(or, as they have since been termed. Oriental) Eclogues , 
which have not been equalled by any Pastorals in the 
English language. He published also the beautiful Ode 
on the Passions , and some other poems ; the sale of which 
being by no means successful, he burnt the remaining 
copies in indignation. Being of a liberal spirit, and 
having small resources, expectation, dissipation, and 
distress, threw him into a nervous disorder, and impaired 
his understanding; so that when an uncle left him a con¬ 
siderable fortune, the opportunity of enjoying it was 
over; a striking instance that man is not born for hap¬ 
piness. Collins, who, while he studied to live , felt no 
evil but poverty, no sooner lived to study , than his life 
was assailed by more dreadful calamities—disease and 
insanity. To disperse the clouds which he perceived 
gathering on his intellects, he passed into France ; but 
found himself constrained to yield to his malady, and 
returned. Dr. Johnson then paid him a visit at Isling¬ 
ton, and found nothing of disorder discernible in his 
mind to any but himself; but he had withdrawn from 
study, and travelled with no other book than an English 
Testament, such as children carry to school. When his 
friend took it into his hand, out of curiosity to see what 
companion a man of letters had chosen, I have but one 
book , says Collins, but that is the best. He was for some 
time confined in a house for lunatics, and afterwards 


* Entertainments of this kind (if they proceed from a real 
principle of piety and faith) will, besides all the pleasure a ge¬ 
nerous heart finds in the exercise of such bounties, be abundantly 
recompensed at the resurrection of the just. See Luke xiv. 13, 14, 
and Dr. Doddridge’s excellent remarks on the subject, Fam. 
Expos. 

f Many benevolent persons have made similar donations ; and 
some have given more. Dr. Price devoted the fifth part of his 
income to charitable uses. See Index, and Dec. 25, 1758. 



DECEMBER. 


555 


retired to the care of his sister at Chichester, where death, 
in 1759, came to his relief. 

On the monument erected to his memory in Chichester 
Cathedral, and executed with great taste by Flaxman, 
the poet is represented as taking refuge from his mis¬ 
fortunes in the consolation of the Gospel, while his lyre, 
and one of the first of his poems, lie neglected on the 
ground. Above are two elegant figures of Love and 
Piety, entwined in each other’s arms, and beneath, an 
elegant epitaph by the late Mr. Hayley, which is quoted 
entire in Bourn’s Gazetteer , art. Chichester. The follow¬ 
ing are the concluding lines of this impressive tribute of 
respect to his memory: 

He join’d pure faith to strong poetic powers. 

And, in reviving Reason’s lucid hours, 

Sought on one book his troubled mind to rest, 

And rightly deem’d the book of Gon the best. 

25, 1758. Died, at his living of Weston-Favell, in North¬ 
amptonshire, James Hervey, a divine of exemplary 
virtue, great learning, and sincere piety, born at Har- 
dingstone, in the same county, in 1714. The beneficence 
of Mr. Hervey was remarkable. The whole of the vast 
profits upon his popular and excellent “ Meditations”* 
he gave in charity ; saying, that as Providence had 
blessed his attempt, lie thought himself bound to relieve 
his fellow-creatures with it. It was always his desire 
to die just even with the world, and to lie (as he called 
it) his own executor. His fund almost expired with 
his life: what little remained he desired might be given 
in warm clothing to the poor in that severe season 
(Christmas). 

The concluding scene of this most excellent man’s 
life was truly affecting. Though his strength was ex¬ 
hausted, and his body extremely emaciated, and so tender 
as hardly to bear the gentlest hand to touch him, yet he 
still continued blessing the Divine goodness, and thank¬ 
ing God for enduing him with patience. Though in the 
pangs of death, he repeated with great serenity of coun¬ 
tenance the last words of good old Simeon,f—Precious 
Salvation!—Here, said he to his medical friend, is my 
cordial; what are all the cordials given to support the 


* See April 12, 1765. 

f See Luke ii. 29, and Simeon, Index. 
2 b 2 



55G 


DECEMBER. 


dying, in comparison of that which arises from the 
promises of salvation by Christ ? His last words were. 
Precious Salvation ! 

During the last hour he said nothing, but leaned his 
head against the side of an easv chair,* * * § and without a 
sigh, groan, or the least emotion,—“ He clos’d his eyes, 
and saw his God.”f Watts. — See the Life of Hervey, 
prefixed to his Meditations, published in 1796, by Hep- 
tinstall, in 2 vols. 8vo. 

25, 1759. Was born at East Ruston, a place twelve miles 
north-east of Norwich, in Norfolk, Richard Porson, 
professor of the Greek language in the university of 
Cambridge, and said to have been the best Greek scholar 
in the kingdom. Toward the latter end of his life he was 
appointed chief librarian to the London Institution,^ in 
the Old Jewry, where he died on the 25th of September, 
1808. Professor Porson was buried in the chapel of 
Trinity College, Cambridge, near the remains of that 
celebrated scholar. Dr. Bentley. 

— 1761, O. S., or 5th Jan. 1762, N. S.§ Died Elizabeth 
Petrovna, Empress of Russia. She was the daughter 
of Peter the Great and the handsome Catherine. At the 
commencement of her reign she made a vow never to 
punish a malefactor with death; but never were more 
tongues cut out, and more wretches sent to Siberia, than 
under the reign of this princess, whose clemency has been 
highly, but unjustly, extolled. Her conduct was most 
infamously immoral; and after a long illness and excru¬ 
ciating pain she died, in the 52nd year of her age, and 
22nd of her reign. She was succeeded by her nephew 
Peter III. 

— 1801. Died, at Hadley, near Chipping-Barnet, in 
Middlesex, Hester Chapone, born in Northampton¬ 
shire, about the year 1726. Her elegant pen was always 
directed to moral purposes ; and virtue, far from shewing 
repulsive austerity in her representations, was distinguish- 


* Mr. Hervey’s death, with his brother and sister standing 
near him, was the subject of one of Mr. VVestall’s pictures ex¬ 
hibited at the New Gallery, Pall-Mall, in 1814. 

f See Berkeley, Bishop; Cruden ; and Rowe, Mrs., Index. 

X See Arith. Quest, art. Museum. The London Institution is 
now removed to a new and elegant building in Moorfields. 

§ See 2d Sept. 1752. 



DECEMBER. 


557 


ed by endearing graces. Mrs. Chapone’s “Letters on 
the Improvement of the Mind, addressed to a Young 
Lady,” and her “Miscellanies in Prose and Verse,” en¬ 
title her to a distinguished place on the rolls of litera¬ 
ture.* 

26, Is the festival of St. Stephen, one of the seven 
Deacons, and the first martyr to the Christian faith. 
Some think that he was of the number of the seventy 
disciples, but this is not certain. He possessed great 
holiness, ability, and zeal. His adversaries, unable to 
resist the wisdom and spirit with which he spoke, sub¬ 
orned false witnesses, who deposed that they heard him 
utter blasphemous words against God, and against Moses; 
upon which he was brought before the Sanhedrimf at 
Jerusalem. He made an elaborate defence, and, finally, 
charging the Jews with the murder of Jesus Christ, they 
instantly drew him out of the city and stoned him to 
death. He was interred by some pious persons, who ac¬ 
companied his funeral with great mourning. See the 7th 
and 8th chapters of the Acts. 

— 1135. It being St. Stephen’s Day, King Stephen was 


* The late Rev. J. S. Buckminster, of Boston, in America, 
who was alike admired for his vigorous and accomplished mind, 
his correct taste and discriminating judgment, has thus portrayed 
the various talents of our most distinguished females. He extols 
the severe accomplishments of the venerable Mrs. Carter (see 
Dec. 17, 1717) ; the curious learning of that modest prodigy, 
Elizabeth Smith (see Aug. 7, 1806,) ;—the sound philosophy 
of Elizabeth Hamilton (see July 23, 1816) ;—the exquisite 
elegance and hallowed fancy of Mrs. Barbauld ; —the exuberant 
diction and evangelical morality of Hannah More; —the well- 
attempered maxims of the sensible Chapone ; —and the practical 
sagacity and miraculous invention of Maria Edgeworth. It 
is our glory, he subjoins, to belong to the age which they have 
illustrated by their genius ; and our happiness to believe that 
they will light the way for our children to glory, honour, and 
immortality. 

+ Sanhedrim is a corrupted word from the Greek Synedrion , 
which signifies an assembly. Among the Jews it meant a council 
of seventy, or, as some say, seventy-three senators, who assem¬ 
bled in a hall of the Temple of Jerusalem, and there determined 
the most important affairs of the nation. They date this esta¬ 
blishment from Numbers xi. 16. Some suppose that the “elders 
of the people,” mentioned Matt. xxi. 23, and Luke xx. 1, were 
the members of the grand Sanhedrim, to whom that title most 
eminently and properly belonged.— Fam. Expos. 



558 


DECEMBER. 


crowned at Westminster. In 1148, he was again crowned 
at Lincoln. Stephen was of the Norman line. 

26, 1715. The Pretender landed at Peterhead, in Aber¬ 
deenshire, (or, as some say, at Montrose, in Forfar or 
Angusshire,) Scotland. See Feb. 4, 1716, and Arith. 
Quest, art. Scotch Rebellions. 

— 1780. Died John Fothergill, at his house in Harpur 
Street, an eminent Quaker physician, born at Carr End, 
in the parish of Aysgarth, nine miles west from Middle- 
liam, North Riding of Yorkshire, in 1712. He studied 
physic at Edinburgh, where he took his doctor’s degree. 
In 1762, he established an extensive and curious botanic 
garden at Upton, in Essex, his occasional and delightful 
retreat at the close of his daily and professional engage¬ 
ments. Dr. Fothergill died worth <€80,000. His public 
benefactions, his encouragement to science, the instances 
of his attention to the health, the police, the convenience 
of the metropolis, &c., are too numerous to specify ; and 
his great medical skill was too well known to require 
remark. 

— 1800. Expired, at Englefield Green, near Windsor, 
Berks, the celebrated Mary Robinson, an elegant 
poetess and novelist, who was born at Bristol in 1758. 
This singular woman passed through a great variety of 
strange scenes. Hence her Memoirs not only greatly 
interest our sensibility, but hold forth momentous lessons 
of the most salutary instruction to the female world; as 
they exhibit indubitable proofs, that neither talents the 
most brilliant, nor charms the most fascinating, can, with¬ 
out prudence, and a just sense of decorum, ensure happi¬ 
ness,—and that virtuous conduct is the only certain parent 
of rational peace and pure felicity : 

One blessing on ourselves we may bestow, 

’Tis peace; and virtue is our peace below. 

Wakefield’s Juvenal. 

27, Is the feast of St. John the Evangelist, brother of 
St. James the Great,* and son of Zebedee. He quitted 
the business of fishing to follow Jesus, and was his 
beloved disciple.f He was witness to the actions and 
miracles of his Master; was present at his transfiguration 
on Mount Tabor U and was with him in the garden of 


* See July 25, and May 1. f John xiii. 25, and xxi. 20. 
X See Matt. xvii. 1, &c., and August 6. 





DECEMBER. 


559 


Olives. He was the only apostle who followed him to the 
cross; and to him Jesus left the care of his mother.* He 
was also the first apostle who knew Jesus again after his 
resurrection. He preached the faith in Asia, and prin¬ 
cipally resided at Ephesus, where he maintained the 
mother of our Lord. He is said to have founded the 
churches of Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Phila¬ 
delphia, and Laodicea.f He is also said to have preached 
the gospel among the Partliians, and to have addressed 
his first epistle to that people. It is related, that when at 
Rome, the emperor Domitian caused him to be thrown 
into a caldron of boiling oil, whence he came out unhurt; 
on which he was banished to the Isle of Patinos, in the 
Archipelago, where he wrote his Apocalypse. After the 
death of Domitian, he returned to Ephesus, where he 
composed his Gospel, in the year 96, and died there, in 
the reign of Trajan, about the year 100, aged 94. 

27, 1571. Was born at Weil, near Wirtemberg, in Swabia, 
Germany, John Kepler, one of the greatest philoso¬ 
phers that ever lived, and whom some regard as the dis¬ 
coverer of the true system of the world. He died in 
poverty, November 15, 1631, at Ratisbon, whither he had 
gone to solicit the arrears of his pension, which had been 
very ill paid. Thus did this eminently great and good 
man leave nothing to his wife and children, but the re¬ 
membrance of his talents and virtues. 

—r 1605. Was slain in a desperate fight with some Ja¬ 
panese, near the coast of Malacca, in Asia, John Davis, 
a famous navigator, born at Sandridge, near Dartmouth, 
in Devonshire. He distinguished himself by making 
three voyages to the most northern parts of America, in 
order to find a North-West passage to the East Indies ;X 
and discovered the Straits which bear his name. He 
afterwards performed five voyages to the East Indies, in 
the last of which he was killed. 

— 1724. Died Thomas Guy, founder of the hospital 
which bears his name in Southwark, his native borough, 
where (at Horsleydown) he was born in 1643. He kept 
a bookseller’s shop in a house on the site of that which 
now forms the angle between Cornhill and Lombard 
Street; and at his decease had dedicated to charitable 


* See John xix. 26, 27. 
t See Geo. Exer. on the New Test . 
J See August 10, 1773. 




560 


DECEMBER. 


purposes mere money (upwards of ^240,000) than any 
one private man upon record in this, and doubtless, in any 
other kingdom. He was buried in the vault ot St. J homas’s 
church, from whence he was removed to to the chapei 
of his own foundation on the 4th of September, 1780. 
See Sept. 23, 1829. 

27, 1/84. On this day expired Prince Lee Boo, a most 
amiable character, combining sweetness of manners, de¬ 
licacy of sentiment, fortitude, an ardent curiosity, steady 
application, retentive memory, sound judgment, and 
enlarged patriotic views. In short, from the account 
given of this accomplished youth by Mr. Keate,* it is 
scarcely possible to conceive a more amiable human 
being than Lee Boo, the second son of Abbe Thulle, 
King of the Pelew Islands.f His father committed him 
to Captain Wilson’s care,+ with the noblest confidence 
that in a few years his son would be restored to him 
fraught with that useful knowledge which lie was con¬ 
vinced the Europeans possessed, and which might enable 
him to render the most beneficial services to his country¬ 
men. Lee Boo arrived in England, made a rapid progress 
in the elementary parts of learning, and was daily in¬ 
creasing his stock of general knowledge, in which ho¬ 
nourable career he received every assistance and encou¬ 
ragement from his attentive and generous guardian. This 
engaging youth, loving and being beloved by every one, 
was suddenly brought to a premature death by the small¬ 
pox. The disease was uncommonly malignant, and his 
conflict in dying very great; but composure and fortitude 
never forsook him. ^The East-India Company ordered 
him to be buried in Rotherhithe churchyard, with every 
possible mark of respect; and soon after caused a tomb¬ 
stone to be erected with an appropriate inscription, con¬ 
cluding with the following lines : 


* See June 28, 1797. 

f Coorooraa is the proper name of the island, of which Pelew 
is the capital town. See Crutwell’s Universal Gazetteer. This 
indefatigable writer was born at Wokingham, in Berkshire, and 
died almost suddenly, in his both year, at Froxfield, in Somerset¬ 
shire, on the 5th of Sept. 1808. Mr. C. published an edition of 
the excellent “ Bishop Wilson s Bible and Works,” and also “A 
Concordance of ParallelTexts of Scripture a most laborious 
performance. See Cruden and Wilson (Bishop), Index. 

X See August 9, 1783. 




DECEMBER. 


56’ I 


Stop, Reader, stop ! Let Nature claim a tear; 

A Prince of mine, Lee Boo, lies buried here. 

27, 1/97- Expired, at his daughter’s house in Grosvenor 
Square, John Wilkes; a man who, with all his faults, 
possessed something more than the vapour of patriotism. 
He could face poverty and banishment, despise a jail, re¬ 
sist corruption, attack and overcome tyranny. Had his 
existence, however, ceased at the close of the American 
war, his memory would have been more respected; for he 
outlived his reputation, and at his demise was nearly for¬ 
gotten ; yet his name will be connected with our history, 
and if he does not occupy the chief place, a niche, at least, 
will be tenanted by him in the Temple of Fame. He was 
born in Clerkenwell, London, 1726. 

— 1800. Died, at his natal place, Edinburgh, Hugh 
Blair, D. D., a celebrated divine, whose printed sermons 
met with unparalleled applause, and obtained him a pen¬ 
sion of 200/. a-year. His Lectures on Rhetoric and the 
Belles Lettres, are also eminently distinguished by labori¬ 
ous investigation, sound sense, and refined taste. He was 
amiable in private life, universally respected as a scholar 
and an elegant writer, and carried with him to the grave 
the regret of every Briton who venerates piety, virtue, and 
benevolence. 

— 1814. Joanna Southcott, the noted impostor, for¬ 
merly of Exeter, died in London. Her deluded adherents 
amounted to several thousands ; a circumstance not at all 
surprising, as there will always be found silly enthusiasts 
among the vulgar and illiterate, whose credulity will be 
subservient to any new doctrine, be it ever so preposte¬ 
rous.* And it is highly probable, that the same blind 
infatuation and drivelling folly which led them to enrol 
themselves in the list of her followers, will make them fit 
dupes of the first impudent pretender to supernatural re¬ 
velation who may assume the same confident tone. Few, 
it seems, but the grossly ignorant were among the train of 
Joanna’s votaries: and, seeing this, who can have the per¬ 
versity to contend, that our eleemosynary schools of in¬ 
struction, which now abound throughout the kingdom, are 
not entitled to the most anxious solicitude for their pros¬ 
perity and increase ?f Education, says Locke, makes 


* See March 12, 1712 ; and Geo. Exer. on the New Test. art. 
Joanua Southcott. 

t See May 21, 1814; Nov. 4, 1794 ; and Introduction, p. 4, 
notef. 

2 b 3 



562 


DECEMBER. 


the great difference in mankind. Of all the men we meet 
with, continues this immortal author, nine parts out of 
ten are wholly what they are, good or evil, useful or not, 
by their Education. 

All the pious duties which we owe 
Our parents, friends, our country, and our God, 

The seeds of every virtue here below, 

From discipline and early culture grow ! 

West. 

28, Childermas-Day. This is also called Innocents’ Day, 
an anniversary feast of the church, held in memory of the 
children massacred by order of Herod, at Bethlehem. 

There Herod’s vengeful arm in infant blood 
Drench’d his wide-wasting sword : with rueful shriek 
The childless parent wander’d Rama’s streets. 

ZoUCH. 

The present scene not being a state of retribution,* it 
would be highly irrational to expect that the Supreme 
Being should animadvert on all the excesses of makind; 
yet that he sometimes takes vindicatory notice of human 
enormities is evidently discernible, particularly in the 
punishment of tyrants and persecutors; a sentiment emi¬ 
nently illustrated in the terrible death of the execrable 
tyrant Herod, who died in exquisite torments, eaten of 
worms; so remarkably did Cod make this brutal infanti¬ 
cide a terror to himself \ as well as to all about him.f 
— 1694. Queen Mary, eldest daughter of James II., and 
consort of William III., died of the small-pox, at Ken¬ 
sington, in the 33rd year of her age, and the 6th of her 
reign. In her, the arts lost a protectress, and the unfor- 
tuuate a mother. Bishop Burnet says, that she was a 
perfect pattern of conjugal love, chastity, and obedience. 
She had no relish for those indolent diversions which are 
the too common consumers of most people’s time, and 
which make as great wastes on their minds as they do on 
their fortunes. By her example, it became as much a 
fashion among ladies of quality to work,}: as it had for- 


* See April 25, 1800. 

t See Geo. Ever, on the New Test. No. 130. That “ foul prac¬ 
tices” occasionally “ turn on their authors,” cannot be doubted. 
See Overbury, Sir Thomas, Index ; Geo. Exer, on the New Test. 
No. 41, and art. Lystra. 

X See Arith. Quest, art. Embroidery. It has been excellently 


DECEMBER. 


563 


inerly to be idle. She had read the best books in English, 
French, and Dutch, which were almost equally familiar 
to her; but gave the most of her retired hours to the 
reading of the Scriptures, and books relating to them. 
King William greatly lamented her death, declaring to 
Archbishop Tennison, that “ he could not but grieve, 
since he had lost a wife, who , in seventeen years , had never 
been guilty of an indiscretion” See Nov. 6 and 19, 1817. 

29, 1171. Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
memorable for his pride, insolence, and ingratitude to 
Henry II., was murdered in the Cathedral at Canterbury. 
See July 8, 1174, and MiscelL Quest, in Eng. Hist. 

— 1594. Was put to death by torture at Paris, John 
Chastel, a fanatical youth, who at the instigation of the 
Jesuits,* attempted to assassinate Henry IV. of France. 
See May 14, 1610. 

*— 1680. Lord Stafford, who had been convicted of 
high treason as a conspirator in the Popish Plot, was be¬ 
headed. He made, on the scaffold, the most earnest asse¬ 
verations and protestations of his innocence. This plot is 
said to have been contrived by the Catholics to assassinate 
Charles II.; concerning which, even modern historians 
have affirmed, that some circumstances were true, though 
some were added, and others much magnified. Rapin 
says, that the Popish Plot united in one conspiracy three 
particular designs : to kill the King; to subvert the Go¬ 
vernment ; and to extirpate the Protestant religion. This 
nobleman’s blood was the last which was shed on account 
of this Plot. An incident which, for the credit of the 
nation, says Hume, it were better to bury in eternal obli¬ 
vion, but which it is necessary to perpetuate, as well to 
maintain the truth of history, as to warn, if possible, their 
posterity and all mankind never again to fall into so 
shameful, so barbarous a delusion. 

— 1674. The celebrated Turenne, a renowned Marshal 


remarked, that the tasteful industry of Lady C. Long (whose beau¬ 
tiful views were an ornament to the Exhibition of the year lbll ) 
forms a soothing contrast to the herd of fashionable female triflers, 
whose taste rises no higher than painting a face, or arranging the 
puerile affairs of a grand gala; of those silly creatures of wealth 
and of a court, whose history is fully comprised in the few follow¬ 
ing words :—born, slept, rose, ate, dressed, smiled, danced, sang, 
yawned, sickened, died. 

* See April 19, 1804, and Oct. 23, St. Ignatius. 





56 4 


DECEMBER. 


in the service of Louis XIV., gained a great victory over 
the German forces at Mulhausen, a town of France, in the 
department of Upper Rhine. Turenne was born at Sedan, 
in 1611. Reading the historians of former days, particu¬ 
larly Curtius, his youthful mind became enamoured of a 
military life. He was no less celebrated for his splendid 
talents as a great captain, than for his fine moral qualities. 
Pope calls him “ the god-like Turenne;” and Flechier, 
the French orator, in a funeral sermon, says, that he tri¬ 
umphed over the enemies of the state by his valour; over 
the passions of the soul by his wisdom; and over the 
errors and vanities of the age by his piety; and that he 
created a sort of military moral, (une espece de morale 
militaire,) which was peculiarly his own. See July 27, 
1675. 

30, 1691. Died Robert Boyle, a celebrated philosopher 
and chemist, and a zealous Christian,* born at Lismore, 
Waterford, in the south of Ireland, Jan. 25, 1627. He 
was the seventh son and fourteenth child of Richard 
Boyle, Earl of Cork. To this great man we owe the im¬ 
provement of the air-pump,f and innumerable useful dis¬ 
coveries in experimental philosophy; and many works of 
his on that subject are published, which will always be 
held in the highest esteem. King Charles II., King 
James, and King William, used to converse with him in 
the greatest familiarity. His discourse ** Of the high 
Veneration Man’s Intellect owes to God,” is the most 
esteemed of his theological tracts.—This great philoso¬ 
pher, speaking of the Scriptures, said, “ I prefer a sprig 
of the tree of life to a whole wood of bays.”—Archbishop 
Leighton exhorted his pupils never to suffer a day to pass 
without reading some part of the Sacred Records; adding, 
it is not possible to express how much sweeter you will 
find the Inspired Writings than those of any profane orator, 
poet, or philosopher. See Leighton, Index. 

— 1730. Died, at the Hague, in Holland, James Saurin, 
an eminent divine, theological and controversial writer, 
born in 1677, at Nismes, province of Languedoc, depart¬ 
ment of Gard, in the south of France. Mr. Saurin was a 
French refugee, who, with thousands of his countrymen, 
took shelter in Holland from the persecutions in France. 
He received his early education at Geneva, and became an 


* See Arith. Quest. 10th edit. art. Boyle, 

f See Exer. on the Globes , lith edition. 



DECEMBER. 


565 


admirable scholar; but his highest encomiums as a Chris¬ 
tian minister were, that he had an unconquerable aversion 
to sin, a supreme love to God and to the souls of men, 
and lived a holy life. His sermons have united men of 
very dissimilar tastes and opinions in one common senti¬ 
ment of admiration. Six volumes of these excellent dis¬ 
courses have been long before the English public. Four 
of the volumes were translated by Mr. Robinson,* * * § an 
eminent Dissenting Minister at Cambridge; and two by 
Dr. Hunter,f of London; and a seventh has been added 
by Mr. Sutcliffe, of Halifax, in Yorkshire. 

30, 1765 The old Pretender, James Francis Edward, 
son of King James II., died at Rome, aged 73. By his 
consort, Maria, daughter of Prince Sobieski, he left two 
sons; the adventurer of 1745, usually called the young 
Pretender; and Henry Cardinal York. The Old Preten¬ 
der was interred in the church of the Holy Sepulchre at 
Rome, with all the insignia of royalty. The Cardinal, 
York, officiated as chief mourner. Prince Charles, the 
young Pretender, died in 1788, and the Cardinal has since 
paid the debt of nature, dying at Rome, his native city, in 
1807, aged 82. 

There is not, perhaps, a family to be met with in the 
History of any country, whose misfortunes afford so strik¬ 
ing a proof of the sad vicissitude of earthly affairs, as does 
that of the ancient Stuart race.]; James I. (of Scotland), 
after being twenty years prisoner in England, was assassi¬ 
nated by his subjects ;§ James II., his son, was killed in 
his 29th year, at the siege of Roxburgh, in 1460, by the 
accidental bursting of a cannon; James III., put in prison 
by his people, was murdered, after being thrown from his 
horse in a precipitate flight from a battle against his sub- 


* Mr. Robinson was born at Swaffham, in Norfolk, in 1735, 
and died suddenly at Birmingham, in 1790, while on a visit to his 
friend Dr. Priestley, whose religious sentiments he had adopted. 

f See October 27, 1802. 

+ The origin of this family may be seen in the Ency. Brit. 
Vol. XVI. p. 773. 

§ He was captured by the English in 1404, near Flamborough- 
head, in Yorkshire, in his passage to France, whither he was 
going for education. Being released in 1424, he was crowned at 
Scone the same year, and was murdered in a convent near Perth, 
in 1437. See page 67. 




566 


DECEMBER. 


jects;* * * § James IV. perished in an engagement with the 
English at Flodden ;f James V. died of a broken heart 
Mary his daughter was beheaded ;§ Charles I., grandson 
of Mary, lost his head on a scaffold ;|| and James II., his 
son, was driven from his kingdom, and died in exile.1T 
See Roxburgh, Flodden, &c\, Gazetteer. 

30, 1774. Expired, at Twickenham, Paul Whitehead, a 
celebrated poet, who, as a testimonial of affectionate gra¬ 
titude, bequeathed his heart to Lord Le Despencer, who 
had patronized, and been the means of procuring him an 
income of 800/. a-year. This singular legacy, so remark¬ 
ably expressive of the ingenious bard’s deep sense of obli¬ 
gation, is contained in a small urn of variegated marble, 
and placed on an elegant marble pedestal in one of the 
recesses of a magnificent mausoleum at his lordship’s seat, 
at West Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, with the follow¬ 
ing epitaph : 

Unhallowed hands, this Urn forbear ; 

No gems nor orient spoil 
Lie here conceal’d, but, what’s more rare, 

A Heart that knows no guile. 

The present was deposited on this spot by Lord Le 
Despencer, with great solemnity. The whole of the 
Buckinghamshire militia attended, and the urn was con¬ 
veyed in mournful procession; minute guns were fired; 
and an incantation, set to music by Dr. Arnold, was sung 
by vocal performers who were engaged for the purpose. 
A particular account of the ceremonial may be found in 
the Annual Register for 1775. See also Beauties of En¬ 
gland, Vol. I. p. 368. 

Bruce having killed Comyn in a church at Dumfries, 
and in his last hours feeling compunction for the violation 
of that sanctuary, requested Lord Douglas to carry his 
heart to Jerusalem, to be deposited in the holy sepulchre, 
in testimony of his penitence. 

Robert Bruce died June 7, 1329; and it is said that Sir 
James (or Lord) Douglas was slain in battle near the castle 


* This happened in 1437, near the celebrated village of Ban¬ 

nockburn. See June 25, 1314. 

f See Sept. 9, 1513. 

§ See Feb. 8, 1587. 

«T See Sept. 16, 1701. 


X See Nov. 25, 1542. 
II See Jan. 30, 1649. 



DECEMBER. 


567 


of Theba, in Andalusia, in Spain, 1330, and lost the casket 
which contained the heart of his sovereign. It was reco¬ 
vered afterwards and conveyed to Scotland. See Bourn’s 
Gazetteer , 3rd edit. art. Theba and Cardross. 

31, 1460. Was fought the important battle of Wakefield, 
in Yorkshire, in which 3000 Yorkists, and the Duke of 
York, were slain. See Miscell. Quest, in Eng. Hist. 

— 1600. The East India Company was established by 
a Charter from Queen Elizabeth. This charter was 
granted to George, Earl of Cumberland, and 215 knights, 
aldermen, and merchants, constituting them a body politic 
and corporate, under the title of the Governor and Com¬ 
pany of Merchants of London trading to the East Indies. 
The original capital was 72,000/., divided into shares of 50/. 

— 1719. Died, at Greenwich, John Flamsteed, born at 
Denby, eight miles from Derby, in 1646. This eminent 
astronomer formed a new catalogue of the fixed stars,* 
containing about 3000. He made his observations first 
in private, and afterwards in the Royal Observatory,f to 
which there is a dwelling-house annexed, still called 
“ Flamsteed-House.” See Nov. 8, 1656. 

— 1775. General Montgomery was slain in attempt¬ 
ing to take Quebec by a coup de main. In 1818, New 
York, his adopted State, removed his remains from Que¬ 
bec to her own metropolis, where a monument had been 
erected, and near that they repose. See Jan. 25, 1776, 
and Sept. 13, 1759. 

— 1799. Expired, the celebrated French writer, Mar- 
montel, author of “ Moral Tales,” “ Belisarius,”| &c., 
&c. He died in great retirement and in a state border¬ 
ing on want, at the little village of Abboville, in the de¬ 
partment of Lower Seine, France. 

— 1826. Died, at his house, St. James Street, Bucking¬ 
ham Gate, William Gifford, Esq., aged 70. He was 
born at Ashburton in Devonshire. At 13 years of age 
he was left an orphan, without a relation or friend. After 
struggling though various trying scenes, he became one 
of the most distinguished literary characters of his time. 
His translation of Juvenal exhibits the Roman satirist far 
more correctly, and even more harmoniously, than 


* See Arith. Quest. 10th edit, and Ever, on the Globes. 

+ See August 10, 1675. 

X See Index ; and Arith. Quest. 10th edit, art Farthing, and 
Exer. on the Globes, Uth edit. art. Sagitta. 





568 


DECEMBER. 


Dryden’s version ; and the same spirit of vigorous concep¬ 
tion and elegance of numbers is observed in his transla¬ 
tion of Persius. His poem entitled “ The Baviad,” 
which appeared in 1 7D4, was a satire on a knot of ode- 
writers and sonneteers, who, assuming the names of 
Della Crusca, Anna Matilda, &c., were complimenting 
each other in a newspaper called the World. As some 
danger was to be apprehended that these effusions might 
produce a depravation of public taste, Mr. Gifford deter¬ 
mined to correct the evil by ridicule, and thus arose “ The 
Baviad.” His triumph was complete, and he had the 
satisfaction in a short time to see the whole Della 
Cruscan tribe sink into obscurity, and Pope and Milton 
regain their superiority. Mr. Gifford also wrote the 
“ Maeviad,” being an imitation of Horace, levelled at the 
corrupters of dramatic poetry, and was the editor, till 
within a year of his death, of the Quarterly Review. In 
private life no man was more amiable, modest, and unas¬ 
suming, than Mr. Gifford. His morals were correct and 
his manners gentlemanly; and perhaps no better proof 
could be adduced of his liberal and affectionate disposi¬ 
tion than by subjoining the following inscription on a 
tombstone in the burying-ground of Grosvenor Chapel, 
South Audley Street. 

Here lies the Body of 
Ann Davies, 

(for more than XX years) 

Servant to William Gifford. 

She died Feb. 6, 1815, in the 39th year of her age, 
of a tedious and painful malady, 
which she bore 

with exemplary and patient resignation. 

Her deeply afflicted Master erected this stone to her memory, 
as a painful testimony of her uncommon worth and his per¬ 
petual gratitude, respect, and affection, for her long services. 

Though here unknown, dear Ann, thy ashes rest, 

Still lives thy memory in one grateful breast, 

That trac’d thy course through many a painful year. 

And mark’d thy humble hope, thy pious fear. 

O! when this frame, which yet while life remained 
Thy duteous love, with trembling hand, sustained 
Dissolves, (as soon it must,) may that blessed Power 
Who beamed on thine, illume my parting hour; 

So shall I greet thee, where no ills annoy, 

And what was sown in grief, is reaped in joy ; 

Where worth, obscured below, bursts into day. 

And those are paid, whom earth could never pay. 


DECEMBER. 


569 


31, 1830. Knowledge is Power. Lord Bacon. The 
employment of the faculities of man in making the ele¬ 
ments subservient to his use, and for public convenience, 
is in agreement with the magna-charta granted to him 
at his creation.* The stream-engine is allowed to be the 
most valuable present that the arts of life have ever re¬ 
ceived from the philosopher. And steam has been re¬ 
cently applied to passage-boats and to the draft of wag¬ 
gons ; but little was it thought that it would become 
serviceable to that which is the preserver of all arts and 
sciences— Printing : printing-presses are, however, now 
put in action by steam, which not only supersedes the 
labour of the pressmen, but greatly expedites the opera¬ 
tion of taking off impressions. 

It has been admirably remarked, that science note 
finds, its highest glory in improving the condition, or 
allaying the miseries, of humanity; and, that the power 
of scientific benevolence is far greater than that of all 
others, to the welfare of society. He, in whatever situa¬ 
tion he may be, who, in the study of science, has dis¬ 
covered a new means of allevating* pain, or of remedying 
disease; who has described a wiser method of preventing 
poverty, or of shielding misfortune ; who has suggested 
additional means of increasing or improving* the bene¬ 
ficent productions of nature, has left a memorial of him¬ 
self which can never be forgotten; which will commu¬ 
nicate happiness to ages yet unborn; and which, in the 
emphatic language of Scripture, renders him a “ fellow- 
worker” with God himself, in the improvement of his 
creation. (See Jenner, Hawes, and Brahe, Index; and 
Arith. Quest, art. Machinery, its advantages.)—We 
shall conclude with the mention of the late Count Rum- 
ford. Few men, we believe, are more deserving of 
posthumous respect. His benevolent plans provided the 
poor, at a trifling expense, with wholesome, agreeable, 
and nourishing food; and his scientific exertions in the 
structure of chimneys, stoves, &c., &c., have been the 
means of increasing the heat, and at the same time greatly 
diminishing the consumption of fuel;—a discovery 
which has been beneficial to every class of the commu¬ 
nity.—Count Rumford’s name was Thompson; he was 


* See the first two chapters of Genesis ; Mr. Frend’s Evening 
Amusements for 1819, p. 40; Aritlx. Quest, art. Century and 
Steam-Engine. 




570 


DECEMBER. 


a native of Rumford, a town in the state of Massachusetts, 
North America. See Bourn’s Gazetteer , 3d edit. art. 
Rumford. 

Conclusion of the circling Year. 

While thus revolving Seasons roll, 

Obsequious to God’s wise controul, 

Obedient to his plan ; 

With silent eloquence they preach. 

The most important lessons teach, 

To cold, unthinking Man. 

Behold thyself reflected here ! 

The Spring proclaims thy infant year, 

Gay life the Summer’s bloom ; 

Mild Autumn speaks maturer age, 

Confirms thee fool, or hails thee sage : 

While Winter shews the tomb. 

Cunningham. 



INDEX 


A. 

, Page 

Abbeville. 415 

Abbey .112, 352 

Abbot’s Langley. 354 

Abboville. 567 

Abdication, the. 60 


of Amadeus .. 18 

— Casimir .... id. 

— Charles V... 29 

— Christina .. 18 

— Philip II. .. ib. 


Abelard . 146 

Abercrombie, Sir. R. 102 

Aberdeen ..56, 326, 461, 522 

Abernethy, John. 435 

Abingdon. 26 

Abney, Sir Thomas. 504 

Aboukir Bay . 299 

Abrantes, Duke of. 330 

Academy. 168 

Acharna. 438 

Acre.105, 191 

Actium. 357 

Act of Lhiiformity. 335 

Acton . 136 

Adam, Dr. A. 542 

-, R., the architect.. 81 

-, the architects .... 32 

Adams, John. 253 

Addison, ..77, 150, 157, 199, 
226, 355, 462 

Adelphi.32, 68 

Adolphus, Gustavus. See 
Gustavus. 

Adrian. 37 

- IV. 353 

Adrianople. . 37 

Adriatic sea. ib. 

Adventurer. 490 


Page 

iEdile. 525 

yEtieas.517, ib. 

African Association .... 218 

-Institution. 170 

Aghriin . 268 

Agincourt . 445 

Agonalia. 24 

Agosta. 338 

Aikin, Dr.28, 56 

Air Pump . 564 

Aiton . 47 

Aix-la-Chapelle ....255, 412 

Ajaccio .. 321 

Akenside, Dr. .. 35, 234, 438 

Alba. 129 

Alban, St.234 

Alban’s, St. See St. Al¬ 
ban’s. 

Albany. 289 

Albermarle, Duke of .... 210 

Alberoni, Cardinal. 239 

Albert. 169 

Alcala de Henares .. 150, 477 

Alcoran, or Koran. 276 

Alcyone . 330 

Alderley .257, 552 

Alderney. 413 

Aldus . 452 

Aldvvincle . 169 


Alexander ....145, 193, 224 

-, Emperor 369, 519, 

520 

-II. of Scotland.. 261 

-III. of Scotland 95 

-III., Pope .... 260 

Alexandria, 98, 102, 146, 151 


Alfred. 451 

Algiers. 404 

Alkington . 44 




































































572 


INDEX 


» 


Page 

Alley, the. 78 

Almagro. 239 

Almanac, Moore’s. 39 

Almanza.131, 222 

Almondell . 492 

Alnwick . 521 

-Castle. 483 

Alpheus . 167, 382 

Alton . 258 

Alvares de Luna. 213 

Amadeus. 18 

Amazon . 341 

Amazouius. 517 

Ambleteuse. 549 

Auiboise. 123 

Amboy na. 61 

Ambrose, Lord. 484 

Amelia, Princess....464, 495 

Amen . 512 

America . 189, 298 

American Independence.. 252 

--war. 140, 250 

Americus Vesputius. See 

Vesputius. 

Amhurst. 154 

Amiens . 102 

Amontons, Monsieur.... 417 

Ampthill Park. 21 

Amsterdam. 435 

Am well .. 400 

Andes. 424 


Andover 


475 


Andr6, Major. 410 

Andrew, St.167, 513 

Andrew’s, St.199, ib. 

Andrews, Henry. 39 

Angelo, Michael. 62 

Angria. 114 

Anjou, Fulk, Earl of.... 541 
Ankerstrom. 92 


Annamooka. 158 

Annan. 258 

Anna, St. 448 

Aun, Czarina .428, 464 

Anu of Cleves .21, 313 

Anne of Bretagne . 24 


-, Queen of Richard.. 254 

-, Queen 52, 87, 150, 298, 

454 


Page 


Anne of Austria. 494 

Anne of Denmark.... 185, 328 

Annonay. 498 

Annunciation. 99 

Anson .... 172, 215, 224, 230 

Antinous. 37 

Antioch ... 12, 220, 313, 430 

Antipas . 126 

Antiquaries. 214 

Antonio . 448 

Antony. 357 

Antrim . 435 . 

Antwerp .203, 216 

Apocalypse. 559 

Apollo. 124, 269 

Apollo, loss of the. 114 

Apothecaries’Company.. 543 

April . 108 

April-Fool Day . Ill 

Apulia. 529 

Aquae Salviae . 242 

Aquarius. 30 

Aquila. 259 

Aquileia. 359 

Aquinum. 530 

Anna . 228 

Archaeologia . 214 

Ardesoif. 117 

Ardres. 207 

Areopagus . 415 

Arezzo. 262 

Argyle, Earl of. 244 

Aries . 97 

Ariosto. 262 

Aristotle. 168 

Arkwright, Sir R. 305 

Armada, Spanish . 279 

Arminius.427, 434 

Armstrong, Dr. 49 

-, Sergeant.... 41 

Arne, Dr.43, 82 

_ Mi- 4^ 

Arnheim. 426 

Arnold, Dr. 443 

-, General. 410 

Arpinum. 15 

Arqua. 278 

Arragon. 21 

Arras . 102, 345 


























































































INDEX 


573 


Pnge 


Arundel, Philip, Earl of.. 404 

Arzina. 190 

Ascension . 182 

Ascham . 17 

Ash, Dr. 158 

Ashbourne. 88 

Ashburton .. 319 

Ashby de la Zouch. 370 

-, the engraver 349, 366 

512 

Ashe.224, 237 

Ashmole. 194 

Askew, Ann . 276 

Aslacton. 98 

Assisi . 411 

Assumption. 321 

Astracan. 515 

Asylum, Deaf and Dumb . 268 

-, London Orphan 176 

Athelstaneford . 50 

Athens. 168, 169, 352 

Athlone . 248 

Attalus. 68 

Atterbury, Bishop.. .. 60, 227 

Auburn . 116 

Auctions. 285 

Auerstadt . 424 

August. 297 

Augustine Friars. 343 


Page 


Bacon, Lord.35, 126 

- , flitch of . 230 

Badcock, Rev. Samuel .. 188 

Bairn. 37 

Baker, Sir R. 66 

-, the antiquary . .. 378 

-, Henry. 504 

Bakewell, Robert . 408 

Ralchen, Admiral. 413 

Baldwin . 190 

Baleares. 549 

Bales . 314 

Baliol. 513 

Balmerino, Lord.... 325, 404 

Bampton. 60 

Bangor. 483 

Baugorian controversy 135, 466 

Bank of England. 305 

Banks, Sir Joseph. 229 

-, the sculptor .. 89, 548 

Bannockburn .. 220, 238, 566 

Baptists . 140 

Barbadoes . 123 

Barbarossa. 219 

Barbauld, Mrs.230, 557 

Barber. 392 

Barcham, John . 477 

Barclay, Robert.410 

-, Captain . 269 


-, St.202, 343 

-, St. (Florida).. 113 

Augustus Ceesar 50, 297, 326, 

357, 529 

Aurora Borealis. 65, 402 

Ausonia. 350 

Austerlitz . 520 

Autumn .350, 389 

Ave-Maria . 99 

Averroes. 158 

Avignon. 121 

Aylesford, Lord. 362 

Avmer de Valence. 266 

Ayr. 283 

Ayres . 127 

B. 

Babylon . 145, 250 

Bacon, John . 309 


Bard of Cona. 58 

-ofEdnam .. .342, 389 

-of Mantua. 424 

-of Olney. 153 

-of Twickenham.... 205 

-of Tyne. 234 

Bardsey . 31 

Baretti. 175 

Barfleur . 504 

Barnabas, St. 219 

Barnard, Sir John.346 

Barnet. 130 

Barneveldt. 182 

Barnstaple. 534 

Barometer. 427 

Barrow, Dr.122, 173 

Barry, the painter. 68 

Barthelemy. 160 

Bartholomew, St. .. 199, 335 

Bartolozzi .512, 538 

Barton, Elizabeth. 144 




























































































574 


INDEX 


Page 

Basil or Bale.. ..55, 369, 451 


Basingstoke. 71 

Bassano.452 

Bastile. 272, 493 

Bath.. ..33, 48, 90, 117, 126, 
150,237,398,453,490, 522 

Bath Easton . 237 

Bathurst, Earl. 379 

Battersea . 489 

Battishill, the composer.. 533 

Baxter, Andrew. 522 

-, Richard. 482 

Bayard. 159 

Bayle, Peter . 493 

Beach, Mary . 469 

Beaconsfield.262, 440 

Beaton, Cardinal . 199 

Beattie, Dr. 326 

Beaufort, Cardinal. 74 

Beauvais . 265 

Beckford, Lord Mayor .. 232 

Beddoes, Dr.551 

Bedford, Duke of . 80 

-, Regent. 377 

-, town of.... 347, 510 

Bedfords. 302 

Beersheba . 480 

Belem. 264 

Belzoni . 521 

Belisarius . 88 

Benbow . 327 

Bender. 262 

Bennet, Justice. 485 

-, Timothy . 541 

Benson, Dr.. .... 449 

Bentley, Miss. 396 

Berea. 419 

Bere Ferris. 201 

Berkeley (Glouc.) ..187,212 

-, Bishop. 28 

-, Castle .. 384 

Berkford, Little. 536 

Berkhampstead. 153 

Berlin...37, 177 

Bermondsey . 53 

Bern...12, 384, 536 

Bernadotte.39, 330 

Bernard, Sir Thos. 248 

Bernouilli . 55 

Bertie. 444 


Page 

Bertrand de Gourdon.... 121 


Berulle. 133, 409 

Berwick, Duke of .. 131, 222 

Bethabara . 550 

Bethany . 292 

Bethlehem.21, 71 

Bethnal Green . 36 

Bethsaida.. 166,241,288, 513 

Beverley .234, 371 

Bewick, the wood engraver 523 

Bible_ 155, 192, 252, 289, 

389, 564 

Bickham. 173 

Biddle, Rev. John. 387 

Bilbilis. 77 

Bilton. 199 

Birch, Dr. Thomas. 24 

Birmingham 272,324,411, 565 

Bishops, Seven . 225 

Blackburne, Archdeacon .217 

Black Friars . 142 

Blackfriars’ Bridge...... 457 

Blackheath. 221 

Black Hole. 231 

Blacklock . 258 

Black Notley. 510 

Blackstoue, Sir W. 59 

Blackwall, Anthony .... 125 

Blair, Hugh .. ..50, 561 

-, John. 238 

-, Robert. . . 50 

Blake, Admiral.. 66, 144, 322, 

362 

Blanchard.23, 223, 429 

Bland . 33 

Blandford . 129 

Blandy, Mr.321 

-, Mary. 122 

Blaize, Bishop. 48 

Blazy, St. ib. 

Blenheim. 302 

Bligh, Capt. 158 

Blois. 18, 240, 549 

Blood .. 345 

Blue-Coat School . 426 

Bochart . 177 

Bodley, Sir Thos.40, 477 

Boerhaave . 390 

Bogue, Dr. 77 

Boileau . 78 






























































































INDEX. 575 


Page 

Bolam. 30 

Bold re. 119 

Boleyn, Anne .. 188, 207, 369, 

403, 486 

Bolingbroke, Lord .. 227, 285 

Bologna.52, 142, 481 

Bolton. 523 

Bonaparte.. 78, 105, 113, 127, 
174,176,179, 180, 191, 221, 
223,228,275, 325,369, 420, 
433, 440, 520 


Bonaparte, Joseph. 285 

Bond . 64 

Boniface. 214 

Bonner, Bishop. 364 

Bonningtou. 390 

Book, first printed. 319 

Booth by. 88 

Borlace, Dr. 47 

Borodino. 369 

Boston (America) 30, 58, 136, 

140 

Boswell .. 188 

Bosworth Field. 331 

Botanical Cabinet 47,463, 495 

Both well .55, 183 

Boulogne.223, 470 

Boulton, Matthew. 324 

Bourbon. 381 

Bourdeaux.21, 58 

Bourg. 124 

Bourn. 240 

Bourgeois, Sir F. 546 

Bourges . 249 

Boxley Abbey. 392 

Boydell, Alderman.. 22, 423, 

536 

Boyer .. 324 

Boyle, Robert. 564 

Boyne. 247 

Boyse . 275 

Bradfield. 67 

Bradgate .. 57 

Braganza, John, Duke of.. 41 

498, 519 

Brahe, Tycho.. 328, 420, 481 

Bramin. 281 

Brandenburgh House.. .. 312 
Brandt.. 157 


Page 

Brastead. 92 

Brechin . 84 

Brekespeare, Nicholas .. 354 

Bremen. 103 

Brentford. 539 

Breslaw . 553 

Bretten. 60 

Bridekirk. 150 

Bridge.... 92, 224, 309, 457 

-, Menai .. 43 

Bridgend.... 67 

Bridgenorth. 409 

Bridgewater. 322 

-, Duke of, 83, 396 

Briel. 337 

Bright. 232, 483 

Brighton. 77, 428 

Brindley. 84, 271, 396' 

Bristington. 362 


Bristol.. 295, 338, 372, 415, 

417, 558 

-Hot Wells.. 101, 237, 


357, 450, 461 
British and Foreign School 

Society . 192, 373 

British Gallery. 70, 248 

-Museum. 119 

Broglio, Marshal. 46 

Bromley. 490 

Brompton. 258 

Brooke, Charles. 49 

-, Frances. 39 

Broome, William . 490 

Brougham . 171 

Brown, Marshal. 178 

Bruce, David .•. 430 

-, Lord Edward .... 123 

-, James. 155 

-, Robert, 100, 215, 238, 

566 

Bruck, or Brugg.... 169, 413 

Bruudusium. 424 

Brunswick. 313 

*-, Duchess of.. 495 

-, Family of .. 439 

Brussels. 445 

Bryant, Jacob. 487 

Buchan, Earl of. 144 

Buchanan.. 74 


















































































576 


INDEX. 


Page I 

Buckingham, Duke of 82, 133, ! 

335 

Buckminster, Rev. J. 557 

Budgell. 173 

Budlejgh. 456 

Buenos Ayres. 265, 377 

Buffon. 134 

Bugea. 180 

Bull-baiting. 196 

Bulls (of the Pope) .... 260 
Bunhill Fields.. 54, 293, 348, 

450, 504 

Bunker’s Hill. 226 

Bunvan, John. 347 

Burdett, Sir F. 538 


Burgh-upon-Sands. 256 

Burgoyne, General. 430 

Burke. 262 

Burleigh, Cecil, Lord, 101, 306 
Bui net, Bishop.. 93, 289, 467 

-, Thomas. 24 

Burney, Admiral. 129 

-, Dr. ib. 

--, Dr. Charles .... 531 

Burnhall. .312 

Burnham Thorpe . 402 

Burns, Robert. 282, 429 

Burntford Links. 50 

Burr .. 267 

Burton. 83 

-, Robert. 54 

Burwell . 370 

Burying-places. 257 

Busby, Dr. 122 

Bute, Earl of.81, 85 

Butler, Samuel . 391 

-, William ... 310, 419 

Byblos, or Byblus. 395 

Bytig, Admiral. 89, 550 

Bvrom, Dr. 396 

Byron, Lord . 144 

Byzantium .279, 457 


C. 

Cabot, Sebastian .. 113, 236 
Cadiz, 180,189, 201,378,393, 

497 

12, 177, 370 


Page 

Caermarthen . 355 

Caernarvon.... 152, 347, 384 
Caesar, Julius.. 91, 155, 246, 

279, 340 

Caesarea . 416 

Cajeta. 525 

Calais.. 22, 109, 150, 305, 329 

Calaroga. 142 

Calatajud . 77 

Calcuita. 154, 231, 281 

Caledonian Canal . 290 

Calgarth Park. 252 

Calicut. 193, 264 

Caligula . 295 

Callao. 454 

Calmet. 446 

Calvary.51, 91 

Calvin. 198, 449 

Cainbacer 6 s. 174 

Cambridge, 13, 294, 378, 436, 

438, 556 

-, Richard .... 380 

Cambuskenneth. 374 

Camden, the antiquary .. 479 

--, Earl. 137 

Camoens. 448 

Campbell, Archibald .... 244 

Camperdown. 418 

Campion. 59 

Cana. 513 

Canal, Forih and Clyde.. 292 

-, 83, 271, 290, 292, 494 

Candlemas-Day. 47 

Canicula. 249 

Cannae. 191 

Cannes. 78 

Cannon. 337 

Cauonbury . 468 

•-House. 462 

Canterbury.... 96, 217, 222, 

260, 563 

Capell. 38 

Cape Horn. 44 

-of Good Hope 193, 265, 

379, 497 

Capernaum. 241 

Capet . 249 

Cappadocia. 148 

Cappel. 417 


Caen 


















































































INDEX 


577 


Page 

Caprese . 63 

Capricoruus. 548 

Cardinal. 32'8 

Cardross. 215 

Carla. 493 

Carlisle. 197, 320 

Carlisle, Frederick How¬ 
ard, Earl of. 363 

Carmel, Mount. 343 

Carmelites. ib. 

Carolina Matilda. 180 

Caroline, Queen of George 

II.418, 497 

Caroline, Queen of George 

IV. 312 

Carpus . 419 

Carrideu. 385 

Carr, Edward. 558 

Carshalton...... 460 

Carter, Elizabeth, 66, 542, 557 

Carthage. 343, 394 

Carthagena. 456 

Casimir. 18 

Caslon. 36 

Cassini . 481 

Castle Howard ...,. 363 

-Rising.510 

Castleton. 49 

Castres. 323 

Catacombs. 241 

Cathedral, St. Paul’s .... 231 
Catharine 1.66, 185 


II... 172, 265, 277, 
419, 425, 492 
de’Medici.. 18, 522 
of Arragon.. 21, 54, 
194, 212 
wife of Charles 


II. 192, 486 

Catholics. 139, 504 

Cato. 50, 156 

Cave, Edward. 75 

Cawsey .. 362 

Cawthorn, the poet .... 397 
Caxton, the printer .... 320 
Cecil, Lord Burleigh .... 306 

Cecilia, St. 498 

Celestin III.... 400 

2 C 


Page 

Celestius.483 

Cenchrea. 358 

Centurion . 375 

Ceres . 14 

Cervantes . 150, 412 

Chaeronea . 301 

Chalcedon . 278 

Chalgrove Field. 227 

Chalk Farm. 123 

Chalons . 146 

Chalus. 121 

Chambers, E. 183, 462 

-, Sir W. 84 

Champion. 127 

Chandler, Mary. 375 

Chapoue, Mrs. 556 

Charistia. 62 

Charity Schools. 100 


Charles I. 42, 47, 54, 82, 212, 
222, 328, 444, 493 

-II. .. 13, 16, 52, 147, 

192, 196,219,360,362,428, 
444, 527 

Charles II. of Spain.. 460, 475 

-III. of Spain. ... 537 

-IV. of Spain,. 33, 537 

-IV. of France.... 46 

-V. of France, 125, 379 

——VI. of France.... 438 

-V. Emperor of 

Germany, 24, 29, 71, 379, 
384, 445 

-VI. Emperor of 

Germany, 37, 433, 439, 511 

-VII. of France, 249, 

277, 284 

-VIII. 123 

-IX.202, 240, 522 

-X. 127, 379 

-XII. of Sweden, 46, 

262, 515, 533 

-XIII. 331, 469 

-XIV. 39, 331 

-the Bold, of Bur¬ 
gundy . 233, 265 

-Emanuel of Sar¬ 
dinia. 214 

-Felix . ib. 
























































































578 


INDEX 


V" 


Page 

Charles John of Sweden.. 331 
Charlotte, Princess.. 21,172, 

474, 495 

--, Queen, the, 93, 495 

--, Queen .. 188^492 


Charter House . 535 

Chartres. 184 

Chastel, John. 563 

Chateau Thierry. 549 

Chatham. 127 

--, Earl of. See 

Pitt. 

Chatter ton. 338 

Chaucer . 444 

Chauntries . 353 

Chelsea.... 26, 126, 254, 258, 
429, 454, 543 

Cheltenham. 372 

Chenies . 81 

Cherson. 32, 425 

Chertsey. 291 

Cheselden. 61, 126 

Cheshunt. 233 

Chesme . 522 

Chester. 315, 532 

Chiaramonti . 328 

Chichester .... 51, 482, 554 

Childermas Day. 562 

Chimney Sweepers. 165 

Chinon. 253 

Chiswick. 367, 376, 447 

Choczim. 428 

Chosroes. 377 

Christ. See Jesus Christ. 

-’s Hospital. 426 

Christian VII. 89, 180 

Christiana. 328, 469 

Christianity, its object .. 506 

Christians . 12 

Christina. 18, 106, 203 

Christmas. 552 

Christophe. 212, 414 

Christopher, St.. 415 

Chronology. 1 

Churchill, the poet. 470 

-, Arabella .... 222 

Cibber, Colley. 467 

-, Mrs. 43 



Page 

Cicero. 15, 

, 307, 525 

Cider. 

. 60, 350 

Cilicia. 

.... 148 

Cimon. 

.. . 478 

Cipriani, the painter 

.... 538 

Cirencester . 

.... 379 

Citium. 

293, 479 

City Road. 

.... 243 

Clairon, Madame .. 

.... 64 

Clapham. 

346, 476 

Clapton .... 

.32, 176 

Claremont . 

.... 473 

Clarence, Duke of .. 

.... 65 

Clarendon, Earl of.. 

.... 231 

Clarke, the orientalist .. 462 

-, the penman 

.... 127 

-, Dr. S. 

186, 293 

-, William .... 

.... 488 

Clement VII. 

.... 393 

-, Jaques.... 

.... 298 

-, St. 

.... 500 

Cleopas . 

167, 392 

Clergy, sons of the.. 

.... 172 

Clerke, Captain .... 

.... 333 

Clifford, Lord. 

.... 103 

Clifton. 

.... 551 

Clive, Lord. 

.... 499 

Clonmel. 

.... 94 

Clooniquiti. 

.... 227 

Closter-Seven. 


Clovis . 

.. .. 552 

Cloy lie. 

.... 28 

Coaches, Hackney .. 

.... 32 

Cobham, Lord .... 

.. .. 322 

Cochin. 

.... 551 

Cockburne . 

.. .. 322 

Cock-fighting. 

107, 117 

Codrington. 

.... 123 

Coel. 

.... 324 

Cogan, Dr. 


Cognac. 

.... 375 

Cohort. 


Coire . 

.... 471 

Coke, Sir E. 

.. .. 359 

Colchester. 

324, 344 

Colchis. 


Coleraine.. 


Coleshill. 































































































INDEX 


579 


Page 

Oolet, Dr. 379 

College. 353 

Collins, the poet. 554 

Collingvvood . 83 

CoUyer, Joseph. 462 

-, Mrs. ib. 

Colman, George. 321 

Cologne. 203, 322 

Colonna, Cardinal. 278 

Colophon. 507 

Colosse . 279, 498 

Colston, Edward. 417 

Columbus, 141, 172, 180, 189, 
202, 298, 304, 367, 393, 
418, 464, 497 

Coluri. 438 

Comet . 367 

Commonwealth, the .... 60 

Como . 334 

Compostella . 288 

Compton, Bishop .. 232, 257 

Comyn. 55, 566 

Cona, stream of. 58 

Conclave .. 327 

Conconato . 190 

Concord. 140 

Conformist. 139 

Congreve. 31 

Coningsby . 396 

Conquest, the. 12, 60 

Constance. 254 

Constantine the Great .. 325 

Constantinople, 200, 240, 330, 

513 

Consul. 526 

Contades, Marshal de .. 299 

Contentment. 173 

Conway, General . 318 

Cook, Captain, 59, 116, 213, 

229, 293 

Cooke, Sir A. 220 

Coorooraa . 560 

Coote, Sir Eyre. 548 

Copenhagen .. 114, 157, 454 

Copernicus . 38, 195 

Copley. 22 

Coppet. 275 

Coram. 95 

Cord6, Charlotte. 270 


Page 

Cordova. 158 

Corfe Castle . 187 

Cork. 69 

Cornelius . 375, 386 

Cornwallis, Marquis, 377, 436 

Cortez.318, 493, 520 

Corunna. 29 

Cotton, Sir R. 177 

Cowes. 465 

Cowley . 115, 291 

-, Hannah. 87 

Cowper. 152, 482 

Crabtree, W. 501 

Cracow. 416 

Cranraer, Archbp, 98, 194, 484 

Cranstoun . 122 

Creation, the. 351 

Crediton. 215 

Cremona. 46, 129 

Cressingham . 374 

Cressy. 336 

Crete, island of. ib. 

Crispianus . 445 

Crispin, St. ib. 

Croft . 443 

Cromford. 305 

Cromwell, 107, 144, 152, 223, 
320, 360, 391, 539 

-,Thomas.. 291, 403 

Cronenburgh,. 158 

Cronstadt . 522 

Crook. 378 

Cruden, Alexander. 461 

Crusoe, Robinson . 354 

Crutwell. 560 

Cuba. 493 

Cuckoo. 109 

Cudworth. 453 

Cuff. 72 

Culloden. 133, 458 

Culross. 450 

Cumberland, the poet .. 396 

-, Duke of, 133, 159 

457 

Cummins. 303 

Cunningham . 308 

Currie, Dr. 348 

Curtis, the botanist. 258 

Custrin. 208 
























































































580 INDEX. 


Page 

Cyclopaedia. 14, 183 

Cydnus. 219 

Cypenham . 487 

Cyprianus . 394 

Cyprus. 219 

D. 

Dacier, Madame. 323 

Dacre, Lord. 175 

D’Alembert. 450 

Dalton. 489 

Damascus. 38, 209 

Damer. 199 

Damiens . 19, 102 

Dan. 480 

Dance, Captain . 311 

Danube . 302 

Daphne . 124 

D’Arlandes, Marquis .... 498 

Darnley, Lord. 55, 289 

Dartmouth. 412 

Darwin, Dr. 137 

Daun, Count . 424 

Dauphin. 243 

- ,the Grand .... 131 

Davenant. 134 

David 1. 194 

- II. 67 

-, St... 76 

Davies, the actor . 175 

-, the penman .... 315 

Davis, John. 559 

Davy... 200 

Day. 2 

-, Thomas .. 397 

-, lucky and unlucky .. 216 

Deacon..... 313 

Deaf and Dumb. 268 

Deal. 66, 542 

Deaths, sudden, 64, 177, 303, 

306, 409 

December. 516 

Decemviri . ib . 

Decoy. 407 

De Foe . 354, 462 

Delft .. 266, 344 

Delphine Classics . 323 

Demetrius, Prince. 199 


Page 

Democritus Junior. 54 

Demosthenes. 526 

Denbigh. .. 400 

Denham. 95 

Denmark, Queen of, 157, 180 
Dennis le Forment, St... 519 

Denys, St. 415 

Deptford.. 25, 115, 293, 412 

Derbe. 34 

Derby 48, 137, 346, 521, 567 

Dereham. 152 

Dermody. 274 

DeRuyter.... 210,219,337 

Desaix. 223 

Des Cartes. 106 

Deserted Village........ 116 

Despencer, Lord. 566 

Dessalines .... . 141 

Dettingen........ „,.. .. 457 

Devonshire, Duke of .... 452 

De Witt . 210, 328 

Diana ... 164 

Dias, Bartholomew .... 264 

Dictator .. 246 

Diderot. 248 

Didymus.. 547 

Dijon ... 215 

Dimsdale, Dr. 419 

Diocletian . 169 

Dionysius, the Areopagite 415 

Dishley... 408 

Dissenter. 140 

Dissenters’ Library. 187 

Docks, new. 342 

Dodd, Dr. .. .... 240 

Doddridge, Dr. 385, 449 

Dodsley, Robert. 393 

Dog Days. 249 

Dogget. 298 

Dolgorouki. 464 

Dominic, St........ 36, 142 

-de Gusman.... 142 

Domingo, St... 141,190,414 

Dominicans. 142, 343 

Domremy.... 178 

Don John, of Austria.... 412 

Dorking . 303 

Dorrington. 536 

Dort. 434 





















































































INDEX 


581 


Page 


D’Orvilliers, Count .... 290 

Douglas . 171 

-, Archibald. 279 

-, Lord. 566 

Dove Dale . 88 

Dover, 23, 109, 150, 182, 196, 
207,222,231,340,444, 470 

Down . 92 

Downing. 540 

Drake, Sir F., 40, 115, 466, 

488, 537 

Drepanum . 324 

Dresden . 358 

Drew, Sarah . 294 

Drogheda. 320 

Dromore. 409 

Druids’ Temple. 318 

Dryden. 129, 169 

Dublin, 26, 95, 259, 262, 275, 

355 

Du Casse. 327 

Dudley, Lord .. 57, 404, 484 

-, Lord Henry .... ib. 

Dulwich . 545 

Dumfermline. 493 

Dumfries . 283, 566 

Dumourier, General .... 470 

Dunbar. 238, 360, 513 

Duncan, Lord. 306, 418 

Dundee . 306 

Dundrennan, Abbey of .. 184 

Dunmow. 230 

Dunning, Lord Ashburton, 319 

Dunsfold . 71 

Dunstable. 194 

D’Urfey the poet. 73 

Durham . 393 

Duty, filial. 205 

E. 

Eagles, French . 405 

Ealing, Little. 243, 539 

Earthquake, 51, 63, 98, 438, 

454, 461 

East Dereham. 152 

Eclipse (Moon). 95 

-Solar. 147, 271 

Eddystone .... 415, 454, 505 


Page 


Edessa. 547 

Edge-Hill. 444 

Edgeworth, Richard, L... 398 

———, Miss. 557 

-Town. 398 

Edict of Nantz. 444 


Edinburgh .. 50, 56, 74, 188, 
221,229,244,258,280,338, 
410, 428, 467, 501 
Edmundsbury .. 74, 489, 496 

Edmund, St. ib. 

Ednam Hill . 347, 389 

Education.. 5, 192, 267, 468, 

531, 561 

Edward I...42, 105, 183, 225, 
256, 284, 327, 513 

-II. 32,42,71,152,238, 

347, 384, 510 

-III. 32, 42, 148, 231, 

236,279,305, 336,384,483, 

510 

-IV. 81, 125, 172, 240 

-V. 125, 254, 277 

-VI. 255, 418, 426 

-, Prince . 192 

-the Black Prince, 194, 

217, 337, 381 


-, son of Edgar.... 187 

Edwards, Bryan. 277 

-, George. 287 

-, Talbot. 403 

-, William. 309 

Egede . 213 

Egeria. 164 

Eglwysilan . 309 

Egmont, Count. 314 

Elba. 179 

Elfrida. 187 

Elizabeth, 17, 28,98,.115,369, 

399 

- - — , Queen of Bohe¬ 
mia . 57 

-of Russia. 556 

Elliott, Capt. John. 75 

-, General .. 255, 284 

Elphinstone, Admiral ... 324 

Elstow. 347 

Elstree. 124 

Eltham . 30 















































































582 


INDEX 


Page 

Elton . 139 

Emanuel V. 214 

Emlyn. 293 

Etnmaus. 392 

Enfield, Dr. 466 

Englefield Green. 558 

Entick. 193 

Epaminoridas.. .;.. 376, 472 

Epaphras. 279 

Epaphroditus. 103 

Ephesus . 34, 395, 559 

Epictetus. 542 

Epicurus. 168, 420 

Epiphania. 148 

Epiphany. 20 

Episeopius . 434 

Epitaph. 469 

Epithets, designating.. .. 207 

Ep worth. 79 

Equinoxes . 2 

Erasmus. 451 

Erastus . 480 

Erskine, Lord .35, 493 

Escurial .314, 376 

Essex, Countess of. 378 

-, Devereux, Earl of 72, 

378, 404 

-, Thomas, Earl of.. 291 

Ethelwulph. 273 

Etna.333, 436 

Etruria. 16 


Eugene, Prince ..17, 46, 126, 
267, 302, 307, 433 
Euler, the mathematician 369 


Euripides.„. 145 

Eurymedon. 478 

Eusden.,,. 396 

Evans . 409 

Evelyn, John . 73 

Evesham. 305 

Evil, King’s. 87 

Exchange. See lloyal Ex¬ 
change. 

Excommunication. 261 

Exeter. .41, 73, 104, 173, 239, 

470, 477 

Exmouth, Lord. 404 

Exiling... 349 

Eyam .. 100 


F. 


Page 

Fabius, American. 539 

Faenza... 427 

Fahlun. 462 

Fairfax.223, 248 

Fairlop. 253 

Falaise .12, 321 

Falkirk. 284 

Falkland, Lord . 382 

-Palace. 538 

Fallen Majesty . 525 

Fame . 47 

Family Longevity . 308 

Fanshavve . 448 

Farmer, Rev. H. 52 

Farnham. 317 

Farrington. 119 

Faust . 319 

Fawkes, the translator .. 341 
Fayette, Marquis de la .. 342 

Feast, Civic. 228 

Februa. 45 

February. ib. 

Felphain. 482 

Felton. 335 

Females, eminent. 557 

Fenelon.23, 308 

Fenny Drayton . 485 

Feralia. 61 

Ferdiuand, Priuce. 298 

-II. of Germany 59 

-V. of Spain .. 35 

-VI.537, 544 

Ferguson, James.. ..114, 491 

-, Robert. 428 

Ferney. 207 

Ferrara . 262 

Ferrari. 506 

Ferrers, Earl. 175 

Fecamp . 428 

Fesol6. 23 

Feversham Abbey. 444 

Field Head. 53 

Fielding . 147 

Finisterre . 172 

Fires. 100, 112, 265, 357, 370 
Firmin, Thomas. 545 


Fisher, Bishop .... 233, 403 























































































INDEX 


5S3 


Page 

Fitzgerald . 265 

Fitzwilliam, Viscount.... 52 

Flamborough Head .... 565 
Flamsteed .. ..316, 478, 567 

- House. 55 

Flavel . 239 

Flaxley. 112 

Flaxman.521, 555 

Fleury. 41 

Flodden .371, 566 

Fletching. 29 

Flora. 156, 209 

Floralia. ib. ib. 

Florence.23, 44 

Florida. 113 

Flushing .338, 379 

Foix, Gaston de. 127 

Folkstoue, Lord. 69 

Fontainbleau ...... 171, 396 

Fontenoy. 159, 458 

Fontevrault. 253 

Foote, the comedian .... 441 

Ford, Lord Gray. 253 

Fordyce, Dr. James .... 522 

-, David . ib. 

-, George. ib. 

-, Sir W.521, ib. 

Foreland, North. 211 

Forest Hill. 109 

Formian Villa. 525 

Formosa. 193 

Fornax. Ill 

Forster. 65 

Forsyth, William . 543 

Forth and Clyde Canal .. 292 
Foster, Dr. James ..293, 470 

Foster Lane. 128 

Fothergill, Dr.524, 558 

Fotheringay Castle. 54 

Fovvues, Rev. J.280, 475 

Fox, Charles James 170, 376, 

432 

-, George . 485 

-, Joseph . 373 

-, Martyrologist. 273 

-, Sir Stephen . 454 

France, Queen of. 429 


Francis I. of France .. 72, 94, 
106, 121, 171,207, 375 


Page 

Francis II. of France 150, 243, 

522 

-II. of Germany.. 342, 


520 

-I. of Tuscany 439, 511 

-, St. 411 

Franciscans . 343 

Fraucklin. 91 

Frankfort on the Oder .. 154 

Franklin, Capt. 322 

Franklin, Dr. 30, 41, 136, 540 

Fraser. 126 

Frederick 1.23, 353 


Augustus I. .. 46 

William 1. ... 207 

-II. 38, 491 

, King of Bohe¬ 


mia .474, 492 

Frederick, Princeof Wales 97 

-the Great ..37, 72, 

324, 424 

-VI . 180 

Frederickshall . 533 

Friday. 7 

Friedlaud. 223 

Friends .8, 485, 506 

Frome. 66 

Froxfield. 560 

Fry, Mrs. 373 

Fryth, John. 250 

Fulham .. 131, 256, 257, 466 

Fulvia. 236 

Funeral, singular . 190 

Fuseli. 134 

G. 

Gabriel . 99 

Gainsborough. 303 

Galileo. 23 

Gallery, British. 70 

Galvan i . 52 

Galway, Earl of. 131 

Gama. See Vasco deGama. 

Ganges, River. 282 

Garat . 174 

Garden Philosopher . 168 


Gardiner, Col... 194, 268, 385 
















































































584 INDEX. 




Page 

Gargettium. 168 

Garneriu, Monsieur .... 330 

Garratt, John.224 

Garrick .32, 64, 367 

Garter, Order of the .... 148 

Garth . 30 

Gaston de Foix. 127 

Gates, General .430 

Gaveston. 247 

Gay, the poet ...534 

Gazette .474 

Geddes, Rev. A. 73 

Geese .399 

Gemappe.470 

Gemini . 191 

Geneva.198, 449 

Genoa. 190 

Gentile . 166 

Gentoos .281 

George 1.221, 439, 475 

-— II.418, 446, 475 

--, Statue of .... 74 

-III...42, 85, 204, 213, 

267, 3^464, 475, 495 

George IV.42, 280, 318 

-Prince of Denmark 454 


Saint .. 148 


Georgium Sidus. 

• 

oo 

CO 

339 

Germains, St... 106, 

183, 

231, 

240, 

364, 

379 

Gerrard . 


266 

Gesner, the botanist 

• • • • 

94 

Gessner, Solomon .. 


79 

Gething . 


315 

Ghazepoor . 


437 

Ghent... 71, 

379, 

552 

Giant, Irish. 


357 

Gibbon . 

.29, 

135 

Gibraltar .. 

255, 

284 

Gidea, or Giddy Hall 

• • « • 

220 

Giffard. 


501 

Gilds . 


353 

Giles’s, St., Festival 

• • • • 

352 

Gilpin, S. 


119 

- , William .... 


tb. 

Ginkle, General .... 

248, 

268 

Glasgow.29 

,92, 

501 

Glastonbury . 


92 

Glencoe, massacre of 

• • • « 

58 


Page 

Glendower, or Glyudwr ..361, 


381 

Gloucester 54, 119, 384, 408, 

451 

-, Duke of. 74 

Glover, Richard.504 

Goa. 547 

Goat .548 

Godwin, Mary W.371 

Goethe. 447 

Goldsmith,Dr. ..35, 116, 462 

Gomera . 367 

Good Hope, Cape of. See 
Cape. 

Good, Mason.15, 73 

-Regent. 36 

Gordon, Lord George 211, 463 

Goree. 41 

Gosport . 124 

Gottingen . 536 

Gourdon, Bertrand de .. 121 
Graham, Catharine Ma- 

cauley. 235 

Graham, George. 502 

-, Serjeant. 174 

Grand Cairo . 223 

Granger, Rev. James .... 133 

Granicus. 193 

Grasse, Count de . 129 

Gratwick . 502 

Grave, The. 50 

Graves.249, 275 

-, Richard.500 

Gravesend . 525 

Gray, Lord.222 

-, the poet. 293 

Great Britain. 13 

Greathead .. 43 

Great Storm . 504 

Gredington. 117 

Green, Valentine . 243 

Greenock. 31 

Greenwich..54, 99, 187, 255, 
316, 369, 419, 567 

Gregory, Dr. 56 

Greig, Admiral ........ 522 

Grenville, Sir Bevil .... 253 

-, Lord.421 

Gresham, Sir Thos. 216, 497 
















































































INDEX 


585 


Page 


Grey, Lady Jane ....57, 484 

Griffith, Elizabeth. 19 

Griffiths, Dr.398 

Grignion, the engraver .. 463 

Grodno . 504 

Groningen . 55 

Grose . 181 

Grotius.280, 344 

Grove. 74 

-Place . 296 

Grubenman. 309 

Grutli . 491 

Guanahani. 418 

Guardian . 88 

Guarini . 141 

Guatimozin. 319 

Guines, Forest of. 23 

Guipuscoa . 142 

Guise, Duke of . 549 

Gunpowder Plot. 469 

Gustavus Adolphus . .204, 472 

-Ill. 92 

-Vasa. 400 

Guthrie . 84 

Guy, Thomas. 559 


H. 


Hachette, Jeane. 265 

Hack m au . 124 

Hackney 32, 33, 47, 140, 184, 
296,300,371,496,509,532, 

535 

Haddington. 308 

Hadleigh. 54 

Hadley. 556 

Haggai. 250 

Haggerstone.49, 477 

Hagley. 333 

Hague .... 40, 328, 467, 564 

Halcyon . 329 

Hale, Sir M. ...257, 390, 552 

Hales-Owen.36, 56 

Halidown Hill. 279 

Hall, Bishop. 369 

Halle. 131 

Haller, Albert Van. 536 

Halley, Edmund.49, 477 


Hallidown . 77 

Halsewell. 22 

Ham House. 541 

Hamburgh . 90 

Hamilton . 47 


-, Duke of. 123 

-, Elizabeth 287, 557 

-, General. 267 

I ————— of Bothwellhaugh 36 

Hammerfest. 317 

Hampden .71, 227, 236 

Hampstead .24, 35 

Hampton Court.226,268, 418 

Handel.131, 197 

Handsworth. . 31 

Hanley. 364 

Hannibal. 191 


Hanover... 88, 221, 339, 413, 

439 


Hanway, Jonas . 364 

Han well . ib. 

Harding, the astronomer . 356 

Hardingstone. 555 

Harmer, Rev. Thos.505 

Harold. 420 

Harris, General. 173 

-, the aeronaut .... 197 

Harrow-on-the-Hill. 30 

Harrowgate. 287 

Harvest Home. 297, 518 

Harwich. 212 

Harwood, Dr. 28 

Hastings, battle of. 420 

-, Lord. 222 

Hauberk. 84 

Havannah.190, 318 

Havre de Grace. 34 

Hawes, Dr. 523 

Hawke, Admiral. 497 

Hawkesworth, Dr. 490 

Hawkins, Sir John. 432 

Haworth. 382 

Hawse, Sir Richard. 222 

Haydon. 70 

Hayes .... w .37, 341 


- Farm. 456 

Hayley, William. 482 

Hay market Theatre ..... 49. 

Hayti.. 143, 414 




























































































586 


INDEX 


Page 

Health, scale of ........ 137 

Hearne, the antiquary ... 219 

Heathen . 166 

Heathfield.31, 284 

-, Lord.. ..255, 284 

Heber. 115 

Hebrews.8, 413 

Hecla. 333 

-, ship. 100 

Hector. 255 

Hegira. 275 

Helena, Island of St. 176,324, 

420 

Helier, St.22, 318 

Heloise. 146 

Helvetic Liberty. 491 

Henrietta Maria .... 82, 222 

Henry, Matthew. 532 

- , brother of Rich. 1. 377 

-- , Dr. 502 


-Frederick, Prince.. 66 

- , son of James 1. 186,471 

- I. of England, 307, 413, 

519 

- I. of Hayti.... 212, 414 

- II. of England, 253, 260, 

541 

- II. of Castile. 200 

- II. of France, 106, 242, 

266 

- III. of England, 183,407, 

451, 489 

-of France. 298 

- IV. of England, 96, 280, 

420 

- - — of France, 159, 183, 

331,444, 536 

- V. of England, 347, 445 

-VI. 82, 172, 523 

-of Germany, 359, 399 

- VII. of England, 146, 

308, 347, 456 

- VIII... 21, 40, 54, 55, 

112,207, 212,226,234,268, 
313, 371,393,418,432,466, 

486 

-, Prince of Portugal, 484 


Heraclius. 377 

Herbert, Admiral . 184 


Page 

Hereford. 32, 60, 315 

Heresy. 98 

Hermentrude. 370 

Hernando. 189 

Herod. 562 

Herodias. 235 

Hernhuters. 218 

Herschel, Sir W. .., 88, 339 

Hertswold . 67 

Herve, Peter . 345 

Hervey, James .... 128, 555 

Hethersedge. 550 

Hevelius. 501 

Heversham. 252 

Hewet, John . 294 

Hexham. 183 

Hierapolis. 167, 542 

Highgate. 126, 232 

Hilary or Hilarius, St. .. 27 

Hilsey. 393 

Hipparchus. 481 

Hippo. 343 

Hispaniola. 141,432 

Historiographer. 221 

Hoadly, Bishop .... 135, 466 

Hobson . 13 

Hochkirchen . 423 

Hodge, Arthur. 179 

Hogarth . 446 

Hogue, Cape la. 188 

Holdenby. 212 

Holdgate. 61 

Holland House. 226 

Hollar, the engraver .... 102 

Hollis . 528 

Holwell . 231 

Holy-Cross Day. 377 

Holy Maid of Kent.. 144, 432 

Holy-Rood Day. 392 

Holy-Rood House .. 84, 185 

Home, Rev. John. 50 

Hood, Admiral. 344 

-, Robin . 550 

Hooke, Dr. 25 

Hooker, the antiquary .. 477 

Hool. 501 

Hoole. 303 

Hooper, Bishop. 54 

Horatius (Horace). 528 













































































INDEX 


587 


Page 

Horn, Cape. 44 

Horne, Bishop. 30 

Horrox, Jeremiah. 501 

Horton. 339 

Hospitals. 353 

Hotspur. 280, 361 

Hough, Bishop. 178 

Houghton. 79 

Hour. 2 

Howard, John. 32, 532 

-, Catharine, 57, 313, 

403 

-, Earl of Carlisle, 363 

Howe, Lord. 210 

-, Sir W. 394 

Hucknall. 144 

Huet, Bishop. 436 

Huggius . 179 

Hughes. 65 

Hull. 69, 321, 354 

Humane Society. 523 

Hume. 338 

Humphrey, Duke.... 74, 477 

-, Samuel. 462 

Hunt, Peter. 391 

Hunter, Dr. Henry, 450, 565 

-, Dr. William .... 430 

-, John. ib. 

Huntingdon. 152 

-, Countess of.. 226 

Hurd . 292 

Hurley. 486 

Hurricane. 493 

Huss, John. 254 

Hyde, Anne. 52, 231 

Hygeia. 348 

I. 

I-colm-kill. 82 

Idol Juggernaut. 226 

Ignatius Loyola. 142 

--, St. 443 

Ilchester. 66 

lldefonso, St.17, 544 

Missus. 168 

Impington. 47 

Independents. 140 

Indies, East. 567 


Page 


Indulgences. 261 

Innocents’ Day. 562 

Inoculation ....61,212,330 

Inquisition. 474 

Intemperance. 138 

Interregnum. 60 

Inverkeithing. 522 

Iona. 82 

Ionia. 507 

Ionian Isles. 520 

Ipswich.508, 539, 545 

Ireland. 13 

-, Samuel. 221 

-, ITuion of. 13 

Irish Giant. 356 

Iron Masque. 494 

Irviue. 28 

Isabel . 100 

Isabella, consort of Ed¬ 
ward II... 46, 71, 384, 415, 
483, 510 

Isabella of Castile. 504 

Isle, the . 52 

Isleben. 65 

Isleworth. 240 

Islington, s 354, 462, 523, 533 

Ismael. 549 

Israel. 413 

Ives, St. 32 


J. 

Jackson, the composer .. 477 


Jairus. 118 

Jamaica. 172 


James I. of England 101, 119, 

328 

-I. of St. Domingo.. 143 

-I. of Scotland.. 67, 565 

-II. of England .. 52, 87, 

145, 199,247,379,541,549, 

566 

James II. of Scotland 304, 565 


III . 220, 565 

IV .371, 510, 566 


V. ..503,530,538, 565 

VI. ..74, 119, 185, 328, 

490 
























































































588 


INDEX 


Page 

James, Commodore. .114, 540 

-, Duke of York 199, 212, 

222, 231 

——, St, the Greater .. 283 


■-, the Less. 166 

Jamison, the painter .... 522 

Janizza. 145 

January. 11 

Janus. ib. 

Jarnac. 549 

Jassy.425, 428 

Javverof. 66 

Jefferson ... . 253 

Jeffries, Judge. 136 

Jeffrey, the seaman. 537 

-, Dr. 23 

Jena. 424 

Jenkins, Henry . 523 

Jenner, Dr. 40, 187, 211, 318 

Jennings, Sir J. 75 

Jenyns, Soaine. 543 

Jerome of Prague. 254 

-, Saint. 402 

Jersey, Isle of.......... 22 

Jerusalem 114, 250, 253, 346, 
413, 443, 566 

Jervis, Sir John. 59 

Jesuits. 142 

Jesus Christ 51, 114, 117, 166, 
182, 392, 552 

Jews..9, 413 

Joan D’Arc .... 178, 201, 277 
Job . 176 


John, King of England.. 182, 

229, 433 

-, King of France .. 125, 

195, 381 

-I. of Portugal. 319 

-II. of Castile. 213 

-IV.41, 472 

-VI. 86 

-the Baptist.... 235, 345 

-the Evangelist.. 105,442, 

558 

-, Little. 550 

-Mark, St. See Mark. 

Johnson, Dr. .. 112, 130, 204, 
380, 452, 554 
-, Mr. 175 


Page 

Johnson, Sir John. 128 

Jones, Sir William. 154 

-, Stephen ..54, 57, 238 

Jonson, Ben.307 

Joseph 1.433, 439, 511 

-of Arimathea .... 294 

Joshua. 386 

Journals, Literary. 204 

Joy, Richard . 187 

Joyce. 212 

-, Jeremiah. 233 

Juan Fernandez ....354, 411 

Jubilee. 252, 367 

Jude, St.228, 450 

Juggernaut. 226 

Julian . 239 

Julius Caesar. See Caesar. 

-II. 480 

July. .... 246 

June. 209 

Juno. ib. 

-(planet). 356 

Junot . 330 

Jury. 451 

Juste, St.24, 29, 384 

Justice, retributive. 179 

Juvenal.530, 567 

K. 

Kamtschatka. 333 

Kate of Aberdeen . 533 

Kauffman, Augeiica. 470 

Keate, George. 240 

Keith. 491 

-, Lord. 324 

-, Marshal. 424 

Kelsey. 277 

Kemble, John. 380 

Kempenfeldt, Admiral .. 327 

Kendal.184, 489 

Kenilworth Castle. 279 

Kensington.. 83, 92, 298, 446, 

454, 562 

Kent, Duke of. 37 

Kentish Town. 463 

Kenyon. 117 

Kepler. 559 


i 



















































































INDEX 


589 


Page 

Keppel, Admiral.... 290, 410 

Kersal. 397 

Kett, Rev. H. 245 

Kevv.47, 303, 492 

Kibworth .28, 230 

Kidder, Bishop . 505 

Kidderminster. 280 

Kilerin. 28 

Killaloe. 450 

Killearne. 74 

Killileagh. 26 

Kilmarnock, Earl of .... 325, 

404 

Kilpatrick. 92 

Kimber, Isaac. 519 

Kimbolton. 21 

King, Edward. 315 

-, Sir John . 316 

Kinghorn. 95 

King Maker .81, 130 

Kings, Resignation of.... 18 

Kingston-upon-Hull. See 
Hull. 

Kin naird. 156 

Kinsale.87, 357, 375 

Kippis, Dr. 414 

Kirby . 327 

-Moorside. 133 

-Wiske. 17 

Kirkaldy. 81 

Kirklees . 550 

Kirkpatrick. 55 

-, Fleming.... 348 

Kirvvan, Dean. 450 

Kleber, General. 223 

Klopstock .90, 248 

Knaith. 535 

Kneller, Sir G. 435 

Knightsbridge. 227 

Knill. 466 

Knowledge is Power .... 569 

Knox, Dr.369 

-, John, Bookseller.. 299 

-, the Reformer 501 

Knoyle.. 72 

Knudstorp . 420 

Konigsberg. 23 

Koran . 276 

Kosciusko . 415 

Koutousoff, General .... 369 

2 D 


Page 

Kylsithe . 220 

Kyrle, Mr. 507 


L. 

Lady Day. 99 

Lady Place. 486 

La Fleche. 183 

La Haye . 106 

La Hogue. 188 

La Roche, Miss. 88 

Laish. 480 

Lake, Captain. 538 

Lalande. 124, 195, 356 

Lambert. 232 

Lambeth .. 194, 479, 525, 548 

-Palace. 502 

Lammas Day . 297 

Lancaster. 75 

-, Joseph.5, 267 

Lanchester.378 

Landen. 293 

Langholm.... 448 

Langley. 59 

Langres. 248 

Langside Hill. 184 

Langton . 88 

Languet . 215 

Lansdovvn, Lord. 253 

-House . 81 

Lardner, Dr. 450 

Largo . 354 

Latimer, Bishop.426 

Laud.. ..... 24 

Laudohn, Marshal.... 72, 407 

Laura.121, 278 

Laurel. 124 

Lawrence-kirk. 326 

Lausanne. 29 

Laureate. 134 

Lavater.15, 134 

Law, Edmund. 320 

Lawrence, St.314 

Lazarus. 293 

Leadhills. 216 

League, Holy. 393 

Leake, Sir J. 550 

Leamington. 248 

Leasovves.56, 333 































































































590 


INDEX 


Page 

Lechlade. 495 

Leczinski, Stanislaus .... 46 

Lee.49, 478 

Leeds . 303 

Leeks . 77 

Lee Boo, Prince. 560 

Legend. 499 

Leghorn.93, 440 

Leicester, town of .. 105, 232, 

289, 331 

-Abbey. 507 

-, Earl of ..183, 279, 

305 

-, Sir J. F... 228, 303 


Leighton, Archbishop ... 389 


Leipsic. 433 

Leith. 328 

Le Maire.44, 222 

Leo . 285 

Leo X.142, 519 

Leonard, St. 471 

Leonardo da Vinci. 171 

Leonidas. 504 

Leopold I. Emperor of 
Germany . . . 174, 433, 511 

Leopold II.. . 77 

Leopold I. Duke of Austria 487 

- II.263 

- — of Saxe Cobourg.. 172, 

473 

Lepanto . 412 

Lettsom, Dr. 137, 465 

Lever, Sir Ashton. 44 

Lewes. 182 

Lewis II. of Hungary .... 455 

Lewisham . 275 

Leyden .27, 434 

Lexington . 140 

Libra . 389 

Libraries ... 186 

Lichfield.. 100, 194, 380, 488 

Life Boat. 43 

Light . 96 

Lily. 90 

Lima.238,438, 454 

Limerick. 411 

Lincoln’s-Inn Fields .... 281 

Lindley. 54 

Lindsay. 55 

Lindsey, Earl.444 


Page 

I Lin ley, Misses. 499 

Linlithgow.......... 36, 530 

Linnaeus the Elder. 25 

-, Charles.462 

Linois, Admiral. 313 

Lisbon .. 147, 264, 448, 449, 

461, 538 

Lisle, Sir George . 344 

Lis more . 564 

Literary Journals, origin of 204 

Lithgow.. 269 

Little Dunmow .. 230 

Liverpool. 303 

Livy. 14 

Llangunnor. 355 

Llewellyn.. .... 533 

Loch Leven. 171 

-Lomond.461 

-Ness. ib. 

-Tay. ib. 

Locke. 452 

Locusts. 235 

Loddiges, Messrs. 47, 463, 496 

Lodi. 180 

Lofft, Capel. 198 

Lollards . 322 

Lombai'dy. 203 


Lombe, Sir Thomas .... 48 

London 19,28,59, 65, 67, 69, 
79,92,95, 97, 119, 121, 127, 
146, 150, 173,188,205, 243, 
300, 304,309,315,317,321, 
322,332,348,354,357, 367, 
379,380,381,387,389,409, 
414,444,448,450,456,467, 
468,470,479,483,487, 502, 
514,522,531,533,543,545, 

548, 561 

London Bridge, New .92, 224 

-, Old_ 265 

-Gazette . 474 

-Institution. 556 

-Orphan Asylum.. 176 

-Stone. 356 

Londonderry. 145, 245 

Long, Lady. 563 

Longevity.. . 308, 488 

Long Calderwood. 430 

Longinus. 91 

Lord-Mayor’s Day ...... 478 




















































































INDEX 


591 


Page 

Lorenzi de’Medici. 125 

Lovat, Lord.126, 404 

Lovelace. 250 

Louis VII. .. 380 

Louis VIII. .. ,_ 196, 477 

Louis IX., or St. Louis .. 148, 

336 

-X. 215 

-XI. 173, 249, 346 

-XII... 12, 123, 240, 415, 

549 

-XIII.183, 396 

-XIV. 127, 354, 364, 444 

-XV.127, 180 

-XVI. 34, 127, 234, 335 

-XVIII. 127, 150, 379 

Lowestoff. 313 

Lovvth, Bishop. 466 

Loyola. 142 

Lubec. 435 

Lucan . .... 158 

Lucania . 529 

Lucar, St. 381 

Lucas, Sir C. 344 

Ludgvan. 47 

Luke, St. 430 

Lunardi . 379 

Lusiad. 447 

Luther.60, 65 

-, Mr. 252 

Luton . 81 

Lutton .. 122 

Lutzen...472 

Luxemburgh, Marshal .. 293 

Lyceum. 168 

Lycidas. 315 

Lydia. 304 

Lyme. 220 

Lymiugton. 191 

Lyndon. 332 

Lyons . 384 

Lystra. 34 

Lyttelton, Lord.38, 332 

M. 

Macauley, Graham. 235 

Mace, the. 144 


Page 

Machaerus. 235 

Mack, General. 440 

Macklin, the actor. 267 

Macklin’s Bible.265, 448 

Macklin, Thomas. ib. 

Macknight. 27 

Macnamara, Captain .... 123 

Madras. 547 

Madrid .82, 106, 460 

Maeviad. 568 

Magdala. 283 

Magdalen, Mary. ib. 

Magellan .. 153, 381 

Magliana. 519 

Magna Charta. 229 

Magna Graecia. 195 

Magnesia. 438 

Mahomet or Mohammed . 276 

-II. 172, 200 

Mahon. 550 

Maia..... 162 

Maida. 365 

Maiden of Norway. 95 

Maidstone. 423 

Maimonides. 158 

Maitland. 308 

Majesty, Fallen. 525 

Malcolm III. 483 

Malden. ib. 

Malkin...... 296 

Malmesbury. 375 

Malta. 102, 221 

Malvern Hills. 163 

Man, Isle of. 82 

Manchester . 44, 84, 346, 393, 

396, 501 

Mandeville. 33 


Manes. 45 

Mansfield, Earl of.. ..97, 215 

Mansion House . 446 

Mantes. 271 

Mantua. 424 

Mar, Earl of . 483 

Marat. 270 

Marathon. 396 

Marble Head. 537 

March. 76 

Marcley Hill. 63 

Maiden. 154 






















































































592 


INDEX 


Page 

Marengo. 223 

Margaret ( Countess of 

Salisbury).198, 403 

Margaret, daughter of 

Eric. 95 

Margaret, daughter of, 

Henry III. ib. 

Margaret, daughter of 

Henry VII. 510 

Margaret, Queen. 172 

Margate. 259 

Maria Antoinette. 429 

-Louisa of Austria . 113 

Maria Theresa.439, 511 

Marie Louise of Hayti .. 212 

Marienburgh . 185 

Marignan. 376 

Mark, St. 151 

-, St.John.151, 395 

Market Bosworth . 125 

Marlborough, Duke of. .. 194, 
224, 237, 267, 302 


Marlborough House .... 224 

*-, town of.... 65 

Marmontel. 567 

Mars. 76 

Marsaglia. 247 

Marston Moor. 248 

Martha. 292 

-, St., a town .... 327 

Martialis. 77 

Martin, St. 481 

-, the optician .... 51 

Martinmas. 481 

Marton. 59 

Marvell, Andrew. 321 

Mary d’Este. 525 

Mary, Queen of James II. 525 


-, Queen of Scots.. 21, 54, 

55, 84, 150, 171, 183, 184, 
229,274,289, 328, 530, 566 
Mary, Queen of William .. 58, 

127, 562 

-, sister of Henry VIII. 415 

-, sister of Martha .. 292 

-, sister of the Virgin . 167 

-, the Sanguinary 54, 255, 

279, 407, 492 
-de’ Medici. 183 


Page 

Masaccio. 120 

Masham, Lady. 453 

Mask, Iron. 494 

Maskelyne, Dr. 55 

Mason, Mary. 101 

-, William ....69, 119 

Mass. 263 

Massacre of Glencoe .... 58 

-, Irish. 443 

-, Parisian. 335 

-, Protestant ... 280 

Matan. 153 

Mather, Cotton..58, 506, 553 

Matius . 198 

Matlock . 372 

Matthew, St.382 

Matthias, St. 71 

Matthioli. 494 

Maurice de Nassau. 266 

Maximilian.. 26, 72 

■-II. .. 418 

--JuliusLeopold 154 

May. 162 

May-Day. 164 

Mayor.446, 479 

Mead, Dr. 61 

Mecaenas.425, 529 

Mecca. 276 

Mecklenburgh Strelitz .. 492 

Medelin. 520 

Medina. 276 

Medina del Campo. 504 

Medway, River . 219 

Megalopolis. 397 

Megalus . 344 

Megara. 424 

Mehun-sur-Yevre . 284 

Melaucthon... 60 

Melita. 221 

Melksham . 494 

Mel moth. 90 

Meuai Bridge. 43 

Mendicants. 343 

Menzikoff, Prince .. 185, 464 

Mercia. 234 

Mercury_7, 285,478, 481 

Merrick. 72 

Messina.52, 399 

Meta. 90 


















































































INDEX. 


593 


Page 

Metapontum. 195 

Methodists.79, 408 

Methuselah. 81 

Metz. 535 

Meudon . 131 

Mexico. 318 

Michael . 399 

Michaelmas-Day .... 99, 399 

Mickle. 447 

Mickleton. 500 

Microscope. 23 

Middle Raisin. 122 

Middleton (Bucks). 60 

*-, Sir Hugh_ 400 

Midsummer-Day. 99 

Migration. 110,406, 411 

Mileham. 359 

Miletus. 9 

Milford Haven.308, 540 

Mill, Silk. 48 

Miller, Joe. 322 

-,-Lady. 237 

-, Philip. 543 

Milliceut. 19 

Miltiades. 479 

Milton.13, 316, 531 

Minden. 299 

Minerva, feast of. 94 

Ministers, ejected. 335 

Minorca. 549 

Minute. 2 

Missionary Society. 468 

Missolonghi . 144 

Modena, Princess of .... 231 

Mohammed. 276 

Mohun, Lord. 123 

Moliere. 64 

Moment . 1 

Monarchy, Prussian .... 23 

Monasteries .27, 112 

Monastery . 353 

Moncailier . 198, 457 

Monday. 6 

Mondego, Cape. 114 

Monk, General.16, 211 

Monmouth. 347 

-, Duke of 220, 253, 

274, 404 

Montague, Elizabeth 165, 338 

2 d 2 


Page 

Montague, Lady Mary W. 330 

Mont’oard. 134 

Montgolfier. 498 

Montgomery, Colonel .. 123 

-, Count .... 242 

-, General 39, 567 

Month. 8 

Monthly Review. 398 

Montmorenci. 314 

Montpensier. 477 

Montrose.49, 558 

Moon, eclipse of. 95 

Moor Park. 215 

Moore, Archbishop. 438 

-, Sir John. 29 

Moore’s Almanack.. 39 

Morat. 233 

Moravia... 218 

Moravians. ib. 

More, Hannah. 557 

-, Sir Thomas.. 254, 432, 

455 

-, the penman. 127 

Moreau, General. 358 

Moreton-Say . 499 

Morgarten . 487 

Morlaix. 358 

Morland, the painter .... 456 

Morris, Valentine. 341 

Mortimer’s Cross . 47 

Mortimer, Earl of March 510 

-, Thomas. 533 

Mortlake. 417 

Morton, Earl of. 501 

Morval. 32 

Moscow . ..31, 107, 198, 378 

Moss, Captain. 114 

Most Christian. 250 

Mulhausen. 564 

Mull. 82 

Muller, Margaret . 90 

Munich, Count . 428 

Murillo. 201 

Murphy, Arthur. 227 

Murray, Earl of. 97 

.-, Lindley. 61 

-, Regent.36, 531 

Museum, Anatomical.... 430 


, British 26, 119, 285 


































































































594 


INDEX 


Page 

Music.. 175 

Musselburgh . 371 

Mycale. 387 

N. 

Nahum. 550 

Namur.194, 412 

Nantes, Edict of. 159 

Nantwich. 532 

Nantz or Nantes .... 159, 444 

Naples.33, 424 

Napoleon. See Bonaparte. 

-, young. 113 

Narcissus. 457 

Narva. 515 

Naseby. 223 

Nash, R. 48 

Nassau. 381 

Nathanael. 16*6 

National Benevolent Insti¬ 
tution . 345 

Nativity. 552 

Nature, study of. 44 

Navarino. 16‘0 

Nelson, Lord .. 83, 114, 157, 
288,299,377,402,421,441, 

511 

Nero. 158, 242 

Neston, Great. 83 

Nestor. 160 

Nether wood. 72 

Neuville . 148 

Nevil, Earl of Warwick .. 130 

Nevill's Cross. 430 

Nevis. 179 

Newark.216, 434 

Newbery, John . 462 

Newbury.382, 408 

Newcastle-upon-Tyne 37, 146, 

234 

Newcome, Archbishop .. 26 

New Forest. 301 

Newfoundland. 236 

Newington Butts. 224 

—--Green .. .... 369 

Newnham, Rev. Mr. 93 

New River . 400 



Page 

Newspapers. 

. 285 

Newton, Sir Isaac . 

. 96 

-, village of . 

. 75 

New York. 

. 159, 267 

Nicholas, Emperor. 

. 520 

Nicodemus. 

. 304 

Nicolai. 

. 425 

Nicolas, St. 

..... 523 

Nicomedia . 

. 167 

Nightingale.. 

. 3 08 

Nile. 155, 223 

, 299, 511 

Nineveh . 

. 550 

Niuians, St.. 

. 502 

Nismes. 

. 564 

Nogeut-le-Roi.. 

. 331 

Nombre de Dios ... 

. 40 

Nonconformist.... 


Non-jurors.. 

. 502 

Norfolk, Howard, 

Duke 

of.. . 

.404, 432 

Norman, Sir John ., 


Northallerton. 

. 331 

North Church.. 

. 67 

-Foreland .. .. 

. 211 

-Mims. 


Northumberland, Duke of. 332 

( i 


i i cmi- 

sylvania) . 


Norton. 


Norwich. 186, 461, 466 

Nottingham 67, 146, 

,414, 438, 


510 

November. 


Noyon. 


Numa Pompilius ... 

. 11, 164 

Nunnery. 

_ 353 

Nuova, John de .... 

.... 325 

O. 


Oaks, the, a seat .. 

.... 430 

Oates . 


O’Bryen . 


Observatory, Royal.. 


Ocklev, Simon. 


Octavius. 


October . 


Oczakow.. 




















































































INDEX. 595 


Odin. See Woden. 

Offa, King . 234 

Okey, Colonel. 462 

Olbers, Dr. 103 

Oldcastle. 322 

Oldenburg . 428 

Olding, John. 500 

-,Rev. J. 412 

Olivet, Mount. 182 

Ollyffe. 127 

Olmutz. 49, 342 

Olney. 153 

Onesimus. 539 

Onesiphorus . 158 

Onore. 19 

Opie. 143 

Opdam, Admiral. 212 

Osploe. 328 

Orange, William V., Prince 

of._. 28, 541 

-, William I., Stadt- 

holder.„. 266 

Orellana. 340 

Origin of Journals. 204 

Orleans . 178 

Orloff, Prince. 107 

Orphan, London, Asylum 176 

Orton, Job... 280 

Orvilliers. 290 

Osnaburgh. 221 

Ossian. 58 

Ostend. 387 

Otaheite. 213 

Otham. 30 

Otrar . 112 

Otteusen. 90 

Otway. 131 

Oudenarde. 267 

Oude Water. 434 

Overbury, Sir Thomas .. 378 

Ovid. 14 

Ovingham . 523 

Owen, Rev. John . 394 

Owyhee . 59 

Oxford, 41, 98, 115, 122, 124, 


134, 193,219,426,451,460, 
474, 477, 479, 508 


P. 


Page 


Packington. 362 

Pad stow. 460 

Padua..' 14 

Painting. 366 

Paisley. 335 

Palais . 146 

Palermo . 14 

Pales. 145 

Paley, Dr. 197 

Palladium . 356, 516 

Pallas . 103, ib. 

Pallas (village) . 116 

Palliser, Sir H. 290 

Palm Sunday. 103 

Palmer, John. 303 

-, Rev. S. 105, 140, 509, 

532 


Palos ... .. 304 

Pandolf . 182 

Paneus. 480 

Panin, Count. 107 

Pannonia. 402 

Pantheon. 145 

Paoli. 487 

Papists. 139 

Paraclete. 146 

Paradise Lost. 532 

Pardons . 261 

Paris, 34, 60, 64,78, 102, 124, 
160, 207, 248, 266, 275, 
330,347,358,433,450, 520 

Park Gate . 83 

-, Mungo. 520 

-Place. 318 

Parker, Sir Hyde. 113 

Parkes, Samuel. 550 

Parliament. 42 

Parnell, Sir H. 43 

Parr, Old. 488 

Parr, Catharine_ 268, 363 

Parry, Captain, 100, 117, 174, 
179, 362, 402 

Parsons, William. 49 

Passiflora Princeps. 495 

Passover. 383 

Patara. 523 

Paternoster. 99 























































































596 


INDEX 


Page 

Paterson, William. 305 

Patmos. 559 

Patras. 431, 513 

Patrick, St. 92 

Pattison, William . 131 

Pau . 39, 331, 536 

Paul, Emperor. 98 

-, St. 34, 38, 158, 220, 241 

Paul’s Cathedral. 231 

-, St., Cross. 393 

--, School .... 379 

Pausilippo . 424 

Pavia, Battle of. 72 

Peace, 102, 231,404,409,411, 

412, 552 


Peacemakers. 347, 506 

Pearce, Dr. 243 

Pedro of Brazil.519 

Peirce, Rev. James. 104 

Peirson . 22 

Pelagius . 483 

Pelew Islands. 313, 560 

Pelican, Ship. 116 

Pella. 145 

Pelltean Chief. ib. 

Pembroke. 146, 347 

■-, Aymer de Va¬ 
lence, Earl of. 266 

Pendeen. 47 


Pendrell . 54 

Peneus. 124 

Penmanship, .. 127, 315, 365, 

512 

Penn, Admiral . 172 

-, William. 421 

Pennsylvania. 422 

Pennant, Thomas .. 400, 540 

Pennington. 361 

Pen-Park Hole . 93 

Pensacola. 114 

Penshurst. 427 

Pentecost. 383 

Perceval . 181 

Percival, Dr. 346 

Percy, Dr. 409 

Pergamus. 126 

Peripatetics. 168 

Perpignan. 411 

Pershore. 158 


Page 

Persius. 568 

Perth. 67, 92, 97, 565 

Peterborough .. 21,54, 197 

Peterhead . 558 

Peter the Cruel . 200 

-Great.. 25, 41, 66, 

185, 262, 515 

-- II. 31 

-Ill. 107, 265, 277 

-- St. 241 

-the Wild Boy. 67 

Peter’s, St. (village) .... 187 
Petersburgh, 41, 56, 98, 107, 
185, 358, 369, 416, 492 

Peterwaradiu. 307 

Petrarch. 121, 124, 278 

Petre, Sir W. 477 

Petroona, Elizabeth .... 556 

Phanseum. 351 

Pharaoh . 180 

Pharisees. 38 

Pharsalia. 158 

Phebe. 358 

Philadelphia .. 136, 394, 423 

Philemon. 498 

Philip, Governor. 53 

Philip, St. 166 

-St., Fort of. 550 

-the Deacon. 416 

-of Macedon.. 145, 301 

-1. of Spain . 393 

-II. of France .... 271 

-II. of Spain.. 192, 266, 

279, 314, 376, 519, 551 

-III. of France ... 411 

-III. of Spain .... 106 

-IV. of France.... 46 

-V. of Spain .. 17, 380, 

460, 544 

-VI., or de Valois, 331, 

336 

Philippi .. 103, 304, 480. 529 

Philippics. 526 

Philipsburgh . 222 

Philips, John. 60 

Philomel. 108 

Phipps, Captain ... 316 

Physic Garden. 543 

Piazzi . 14, 285 





























































































INDEX 


597 


Page 

Picket, Elizabeth. 535 

Picture Gallery . 545 

Pierce, Captain . 22 

Piercefield . 341 

Pierre, St. 34 

Piety, Filial. 205 

Pilchards. 411 

Pingo. 49 

Piukey. 371 

Pisa. 23 

Pisania. 520 

Pisces . 66 

Pitt, the poet. 129 

-, Earl of Chatham, 180, 310 

-, William . 37, 377 

Pius VI. 327 

- VII. 196, 328, 526 

Pizarro. 238 

Placentia. 239 

Planet, new. 356 

Planets. 14, 103 

Plantagenet. 541 

Plassy Plains . 500 

Plato... 68, 168 

Playfair . 280 

Pleasant, Mount. 450 

Pliny, the elder .... 102, 334 

-, the younger. ib. 

Plot, Gunpowder . 469 

Plutarch . 68 

Plymouth, 70, 322, 325, 327, 

432, 487, 488 

Plympton. 70 

Podgers . 269 

Poems, Didactic. 60 

Poets’ Corner. 156 

Poitiers. 27, 381 

Poland. 56 

Polybius. 397 

Polyglot . 462 

Pom fret, or Pontefract .. 222 

-, Countess of.... 137 

Pompey . 68 

Ponce de Leon . 113 

Poniatowski . 262 

-, Stanislaus.. 56 

Pontefract Castle . 58 

Pont-y-Pridd. 309 

Pontus. 259 


Page 

Pope, 170, 204, 435, 467, 469, 

534 

-, the, 139, 195, 234, 241, 

260, 353, 400 


Popery. 251 

Popilius . 526 

Popish Plot. 563 

Poison, Richard. 556 

Porteus . 131, 236 

Portland Island. 66 

Portsmouth 89, 192, 335, 364 
Porto-Bello.... 98, 456, 464 
Portugal, Infanta of .... 192 

Potamology. 341 

Potemkin, Prince .. 107, 425, 

542 

Potheridge . 16 

Potsdam . 324 

Pott, Percival.548 

Potter, Robert. 313 

Poverty . 184 

Povvick Bridge . 444 

Praga . 478 

Prague 102, 177, 247, 420, 474 
Pratt, Earl Camden .... 137 
Pratt, Samuel Jackson .. 411 

Presbyterians. 140 

Presents.10, 61 

Preston . 305, 483 

-Kirk. 217 

-Pans . 386 


Pretender, the.. 49, 558, 565 

-, the Young, 44, 49, 

521, 565 

Price, Dr. Richard ..67, 140, 

532, 554 

Prideaux, Dr. 460 

Priestley, Dr...., 59, 272, 532 

Printing .319, 569 

Prior, Matthew. 38i 

Priory. 353 

Priscilla .259, 358 

Proclamation at the Hague 40 

Prochorus . 313 

Prophet . 250 

Protestant. 139 

Protogeues. 517 

Prout . 320, 391 

Prussia, King of. 38 



















































































598 


INDEX 



Page 

Prussia, Princess of 

.... 178 

Prussian Monarchy.. 

.... 23 

Ptolemais. 

.... 105 

Publicans. 

, 38, 383 

Pultowa . 

.... 262 

Purcell. 

.... 443 

Putney ..29, 37, 134 

Pye, the poet. 

.... 71 

Pvlos. 

.... 160 

Pythagoras . 


Python . 


Q. 


Quaestor. 


Quakers . 

485, 506 

Quarter, Autumnal.. 

.... 389 

-, Spring- 

.... 97 

-, Summer .. 

.... 233 

-, Winter .... 

.... 548 

Quebec. 

376, 567 

Quedlinburgh. 


Queensbury, duke of 

.... 534 

Quiberon Bay. 


Quin. 


Quintin, St. 


Quistello. 


Quito . 


R. 


Radcliff . 

.... 190 

Radclilfe, Dr. 


Raffles, Sir T. S. .. 

.... 47 

Rafford. 

.... 543 

Raikes. 


Rainbow, Lunar .... 

.... 371 

Raleigh, Sir W. 

455, 462 

Ram, the. 

.... 97 

Rambouillet. 

.94, 106 

Ramillies. 

.... 194 

Ramsay, Allan. 

.... 216 

Ramsgate. 

394, 454 

Raphael . 

,.68, 435 

Rapin, the historian 

.... 324 

Rashult.. 


Ratisbon . 

418, 559 

Ravaillac. 

.... 183 


Page 


Ravenna . 127 

Ray, Rev. John . 510 

Reading.24, 519 

Reay, Miss. 124 

Reding. 488 

Reed. 19 

Rees, Dr. A. 218 

Reformation . 60 

Reformers . 65 

Reggio. 262 

Reichstadt . 113 

Regnier, General. 365 

Reid, Dr. Thomas. 413 

Rendsburgh. 89 

Rennes. 441 

Rennie, John . 217 

Resolution, the . 116 

Restoration, the. 60 

Resurrection . 117 

Revel . 522 

Review, Quarterly. 568 

Reviews . 204 


Revolution, the Glorious ..58, 

60, 467 

-, French.272 

-in Holland ... 489 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua . 69, 203 

-, Richard. 372 

Rheims. . ..34, 249, 277, 552 

Rhode Island. 525 

Rhodes. 481 

Rich, the traveller. 411 

Richard 1.49, 121, 359 

- 11.21,58,231,276,420 

-— III. 125,173, 222, 230, 

254, 309, 331 
— : -, Duke of York .. 81 


Richardson.35, 250 

Richelieu, Cardinal. 521 

Richmond (Surrey) ...52, 57, 
60, 98, 146, 342, 371 

Richmond, (York). 217 

--, Earl of. 308 

Ridley, Bishop. 426 

Riga. 428 

Riho Iliho . 273 

Ritigen. 185 

Riots, Birmingham. 272 

-, London. 211 























































































INDEX 


599 


Page 


Riou, Captain... 114 

Rittenhouse. 266 

River, new. 400 

Rivers, Earl. 222 

Rizzio. 84 

Roa.. 477 

Robert II. of Scotlaud ... 139 

-III. of Scotland .. 112 

Robertson, Dr. ..50, 221, 420 

Robespierre.270, 344 

Robin Hood. 550 

Robinson, Mary. 558 

--, Rev. Robert .. 565 

- Thomas.. 105 

Rochester. 549 

-, Earl of_ 288 

Rochetts. 59 

Rochford, Lady. 57 

Rodney, Lord.29, 129 

Rogers, Captain. 354 

-, a Divine . 49 

Rohault . 186 

Romain . 223 

Rome, 34, 37,61,91, 124, 142, 
145, 152, 158,196,203,241, 


452, 471, 565 
Romilly Sir Samuel .... 465 


Romney, Lord. 69 

-, the painter .... 489 

Romulus .... 11, 76, 145, 162 

Rood of Grace. 392 

Rooke, Sir G., 74, 224, 284, 

419 

Roscius . 32 

Roscommon . 116 

Rose Castle. 320 

Rosene, General .... 145, 244 

Roses . 209 

Roses, battles. 331 

Rosier Pilatre. 223, 498 

Roslin, battles at . 71 

Rosni . 548 

Ross, Captain. 194 

Ross, General...... 335 

Rostock . 344 

Rostopchin .. 378 

Rotherham. 411 

Rotherhithe. 560 

Rothsay . 112 


Page 

Rotterdam .... 274,451, 493 


Roubilliac . 384 

Rouen, 12, 177, 201,231, 377 

Rowe, Nicholas.536 

-, Mrs. 66 

Rowton . 482 

Roxburgh.304, 565 

Royal Academy. 214 

-Exchange 216, 444, 497 

-George. 397 

-Observatory. 316 

-Society. 147 

-Touch . 87 

Royston . 39 

Rubens. 203 ’ 

Rumford, Count. 569 

-, North America 570 

Runny Mead . 229 

Rupert, Prince, 210, 236, 248, 

444 

Ruscomb. 423 

Rushden. 99 

Russell, Lady. 401 

-, Lord.. 244,281, ib. 

Ruston, East. 556 

Ruthin. 117 

Ruth, St. 268 

Ruthven. 84 

Rutli. 491 

Ruyter. See De Ruyter. 

Rye-House Plot. 527 

Rysbraeck. 74, 384 

S. 

Sabbatarians . 4 

Sabbath . 3 

Sackville, Lord George .. 299 

-, Sir Edward ... 123 

Sagittarius. 498 

Saint Alban’s, 62, 74,126, 193, 

234 

Sagrez. 484 

Saint Cloud.113, 298 

-David’s . 76 

-Ives’s Bay. 411 

-John D’Acre.105 

-John’s Day. 235 

-Paul’s. 231 























































































600 


INDEX 


Page 

Saint Peter and Paul .... 241 


.-town 

of. 333 

Saint Peter’s . 145 

-Ruth, General .... 268 

-Thomas’s Day .... 99 

Saladin. 359 

Salamis.438, 441 

Salamis, in Cyprus. 220 

Saldanha Bay .324 

Salernum. 384 

Salford. 243 

Salisbury, Countess of .. 198 

Salkeld, Great.449 

Sallo, Denis de. 204 

Saltnasius.360, 532 

Salmon.287, 533 

Salome. 442 

Salona. 167 

Saltsbach. 290 

Salvador, Saint. 418 

Salvington . 513 

Samos. 195 

Samson. 255 

Sandridge. 559 

Sandys, Colonel. 444 

Sanhedrim ...... .... 557 

San Lorenzo. 376 

Santa Cruz . 144, 287 

Saratoga. 430 

Saturday. 7 

Saturn. ib. 

Savage, the poet.295 

Saville, Sir George. 215 

Savoy Palace ...... 125, 146 

Saul Abbey. 92 

Saumur . 323 

Saunderson, Dr. 140 

Saurin, the divine. 564 

Saxe, Count. 159, 458 

Scale of Health .. 137 

Scaliger . 553 

Schaffhausen . 309 

Scheveling . 29 

Schiras. 411 

Schism Bill. 475 

Schoeffer. 319 

Schomberg, Count. 247 

— - —, Duke . ib. 



Page 

School. 

. 203 

Schoolmaster .. 


Schouten. 

.... 44, 222 

Schweidnitz.... 

.... 72, 408 

Schwerin, Marshal. 177 

Scilly Islands .. 

.... 387, 443 

Scone .... 13, 

108, 513, 565 

Scorpion. 

. 443 

Scriptures .... 

155, 388, 564 

Scylla. 

. 51 

Seacombe. 

. 22 

Seasons . 

. 570 

Seater. 

. 7 

Seaton. 

. 131 

Sebastia . 

. 48 

Sedan . 

. 564 

Seddon. 

. 127 

Sedgemore .... 

. 253 

Selby . 

. 307 

Selden. 

.... 311, 513 

Selkirk, Alexander, 354, 375, 


411 

Sellices . 

. 206 

Sempach. 

. 263 

Semur. 

. 360 

Seneca . 

. 158 

Senones . 

.446 

September .... 

. 350 

Septemberizers 

. 368 

Seringapatam .. 

.. 173 

Servetus . 

. 449 

Seven Bishops.. 

. 225 

-Oaks .... 

. 250 

Severn . 

. 494 

Severndroog.... 

.. . 114, 540 

Seville.... 154, 

189, 474, 520 

Seward, Miss ,. 

. 100 

Wi llinm 

lsn 

, . , . . 

Seymour, Edward, Duke 

of Somerset.. 

. 34 


418 

-, Sir Thomas .. 363 

Shaftesbury.... 

.... 133, 187 

Shakeshanks .. 

. 230 

Shakspeare .... 

148, 156, 367 

-Gallery. 536 

Sharon. 

. 209 

Sharp, Granville 

. 256 

Sharpham Park 

. 147 































































































INDEX 


601 


Page 

Shee.57, 366, 442 

Sheen. 371 

Sheffield . 397 

Sheldon, Archbishop ... 479 

-, Mr. 429 

Shelly. 127 

Shenstone . 56 

Sheridan, Mrs.499 

-, R B. 258, ib. 

-, Thomas.259 

Sheriffmuir . 483 

Shields, South. 43 | 

Shiffnal . 552 i 

Shiplake. 133 | 

Shipley. 68 

Shooter’s Hill. 114 

Short . 224 

Shovel, Sir C. 443 

Shrewsbury. 129, 280 

Shuckborough. 215 

Siberia. 428 

Sicilian Vespers. 104 

Sidney, Algernon .. 281, 526 

-Sir Philip. 426 

Sidmouth. 37, 348 

Sidrona . 402 

Sigismund II. 46 

Signets of Immortality .. 311 

Silas, St. 269, 480 

Silk Mill. 48 

Siluria... 351 

Simeon. 413 

Simnel, Lambert. 215 

Simon, Saint. 450 

Simon de Montfort ... 305 

Sinclair, Oliver. 503 

Sines. 551 

Sissinghurst. 66 

Sixtus, bishop of Rome.. 314 
Slave Trade ... 143, 170, 256, 
421, 432, 485 

Sloane .26, 186, 286 

Slough.88, 339 

Sluys. 236 

Smeaton.292, 415, 454 

Smith, Charlotte. 455 

-, Elizabeth.. . .311, 557 

——, SirJ.E. 94 

-, Sir Sidney . 105 

2 E 


Page 

Smithfield . 276 

Smollett, Dr. 440 

Snell.127, 128 

Snow . 127 

Soane . 546 

Sobieski .. 174, 225, 375, 565 
Society, Antiquarian .... 214 

-. British & Foreign 

School. 192, 373 

Society, Marine. 364 

-, Missionary .... 468 

-of Arts . 68 

-, Royal.147, 214 

Socrates . 168, 191, 244 

Sodor and Man . 82 

Soho. 324 

Soissons. 445 

Soldiers, pious.. ... 306 

Solebay. 199 

Soliman . 362 

Solstice, Summer . 233 

-, Winter. 548 

Solway Moss ..485, 503, 531 

Sombrera. 537 

Somerby. 126 

Somers, Lord. 154 

-Town. 533 

Somerset, Car, Earl of .. 378 

-, Seymour, Duke 

of, Protector.34, 403 

Somerset House ..35, 84, 214 

Somis, Ignazio. 47 

Sorrento.87, 152 

Sosthenes. 507 

Soul, sleep of the. 320 

Sound, the .. 113 

South, Dr. 532 

Southampton ..277, 279, 503 
Southcott, Joanna.... 87, 561 

Southev, Dr.71, 135, 238 

Southill . 89 

South Moulton . 188 

Southwark 191, 195, 309, 364 

South wold Bay. 199 

Sowerby. 502 

Spa . 360 

Spectator. 77 

Speed . 119 

Spencer, Sir Hugh. 415 


































































































602 


INDEX 


Page 

Spithead. 224 

Spitzbergen . 316 

Spofforth. 396 

Spragge, Sir E. 180 

Spring. 570 

Spring Quarter . 97 

Spurantio.412 

Stachys, St. 457 

Stael, Baroness de. 275 

Stafford, Duke. 459 

-, Lord. 563 

Stagira. 169 

Stamford. 131, 232, 293 

Stanbury-moor .382 

Standard, battle of. 550 

Stanhope, Earl of.... 56, 504 
Stanislaus, Leczinski.... 46 

-, Poniatowski . 56 

-, of Poland.. .. 502 

Stanley, Miss. 277 

Stanton Harcourt. 294 

-, Harold. 175 

Stanwell. »... 245 

Star, Julian. 368 

Steam Engine.31, 569 

Steele, Sir Richard 77, 88, 355 

Steevens. 35 

Stella . 514 

Stephen, King..444, 519, 557 

-, Saint. 557 

Stepney .35,61, 193 

Sterne, Lawrence . 94 

Stettin. 172 

Stirling.66, 304, 

Stobbs. 255 

Stock Exchange, New ... 78 

Stockholm.92, 106, 400 

Stocks, Miss . 197 

-, the. 73 

Stoke (Notts). 215 

-(Surrey) . 455 

—— Newington 28, 230,503, 

535 

— Pogeis.294, 359 

Stone, Black . 216 

-, White. ib. 

-(Staff.). 59 

Stoneham. 497 

Storm, Great. 504 


Page 

Stothard, C. A. 201 


Stow, John. 119 

Stradling, Capt. 411 

Strafford, Earl of.... 181, 508 
Stratford-upon-Avon 149, 367 

Stratford House. 181 

—-(Essex) . 287 

Strawberry Hill. 80 

Strenas. 10 

Strensham . 392 

Stridon .. 402 

Stromboli . 333 

Strong. 232 

Struensee. 157 

Stuart, Lord Darnley. See 
Darnley. 

Stuart Race, unfortunate . 565 

-, Sir John.365 

Stubbs. 119 

Sturm. 421 

Style.357, 539 

Sudbourgh .379 

Sudbuiy . .303, 467 

Sudley, Baron..403 

-- Castle.363 

Suffolk, Duke of. 67 

Sully.547 

Sulmo. 14 

Summer . 570 

Summer Quarter.233 

Sunday . 3 

-Schools .4, 119 

Sundridge. 132 

Supremacy. 234 

Surrey, Henry, Earl of .. 30 

Sutcliff. 565 

Sutton, Thomas ....532, 535 

Suwarroff, General.478 

S waff ham. 565 

Swallow .100, 411 

Swansea. 48 

Swift, Dean.225, 514 

Swiss Guards.317 

-Liberty. 12 

-Valour .. 233, 263, 376 

Swithin, Saint. 273 

Sydenham . 275 

Sydney Cove . 53 

Sylla. 246 









































































































INDEX. 603 


Page 

Sylvanus. 269 

Symmons, Caroline .... 210 
Syracuse. 425 


T. 


Tabor, Mount.307, 

Taganrog. 

Tagaste. 

Talis, Dr. 

Tallard, Marshal. 

Tame . 

Tamehameha. 

Tamerlane. See Timour. 

Tap pan. 

Tare n turn. 


Tarsus.38, 

Tasso.87, 

Tate. 

Tatius. 


Taunton 


558 

519 

343 

172 

302 

236 

273 

410 

530 

240 

152 

318 

10 

74 


Tavistock..... 

Tay, River . 

Tayler. 

fay lor. Dr. .J. .... 


Te Deum . 

Telegraph.114, 

Telemachus. 

Telescope. 

-, Herchel’s .... 

Telford, Mr. 

Tell, William. 

Tempe. 

Temperance. 

Terms. 

Terouane. 

Tertius. 

Tewkesbury ....65, 172, 

Texel . ...222, 

Thales. 

Thames . 

Theba. 

Themistocles .......... 

Theobalds . 

Theocritus . 

Theodore of Corsica .... 
Thomas a Becket... .260, 


40 

533 

505 

319 

54 

202 

417 

308 

23 

340 

43 

12 

124 

138 

27 

371 

480 

192 

337 

9 

494 

567 

438 

101 

425 

535 

563 


Page 

Thomas, Saint.99, 547 

Thomson... .342, 389 

-, Dr. 92 

Thor. 7 

Thoresby.330 

Thorn, town of.38, 195 

Thornton, John.476 

Thurcaston. 426 

Thurlow, Lord . 377 

Thurot. 74 

Thursday... 6 

Thurso, River. 287 

Thurtell . 124 

Thury. 481 

Thyatira . 304 

Tiara . 353 

Tickell, Richard. 150 

-, Thomas. ib. 

Tilford. 455 


Tillotson, Archbishop . .. 

Time.1, 

Timor. 

Timothy. 

Timour, or Tamerlane .. 

Tippo Sultaun.173, 

Tirano. 

Titus.336, 

Tiverton . 

Tobago. 

Tobolsk . 

Todd, Capt. 

Toleration Act.196, 

To mi. 

Tomkins. 128, 365, 

To-morrow . 


502 

553 

158 

34 

112 

436 

280 

346 

87 

131 

428 

93 

475 

14 

512 

161 


Tongue, Ezekiel. 462 

Tousberg. 490 

Toplady, Rev. A. 317 

Torbay. 467 

Torricelli. 427 

Tortola. 179 

Tory. 475 

-Island. 419 

Tottenham. 116 


Toulon .344, 544 

Toup, Rev. Jonathan .... 31 

Touraine. 106 

Tournament. 242 

Tourville, Admiral. 224 



























































































604 


INDEX 


Page 

67 

301 


Page 

Tower.. 57,125, 136,137, 188, 
198,225,378, 403, 432, 513 
Tower Hill..24, 57, 274, 325, 

421, 524 


Towers, Dr. 191 

Towgood... 46 

To wuley. 16 

Townsend, Rev. John . 53, 268 

Towtoti. 103 

Trafalgar. 441 

Tralles. 416 

Transfiguration. 307 

Trimmer, Mrs. 539 

Trincomale. 342 

Trinidad. 67 

Troas. 419 

Troston. 38 

Trotting, or Trotton .... 131 

Trowbridge. 241 

Troy.220, 516 

Troyes. 409 

Truro.143, 441 

Truxillo . 238 

Tryphena. 480 

Trvphosa. ib. 

Tschesme. 522 

Tudella. 449 

Tudor, Jasper. 47 

-, Owen. ib. 

Tuesday . 6 

Tuisco, or Tuisto. ib. 

Tullia. 307 

Tunbridge. 369 

Tunsted. 396 


Tynton. 

Tyrrel, Walter 


U. 


Ulloa, Don. 456 

Ulm.. 439 

Umfreville, Sir N. 399 

Uniformity, Acts of .... 335 
Union of England, Ireland, 

and Scotland.13, 170 

Union of Norway and 

Sweden. 469 

United States. 288 

University, London. 161 

Upliam. 128 

Upnor Castle. 219 

Upsal.25, 204, 400, 463 

Upton (Bucks). 340 

-(Essex). 558 

Uranienburg. 328 

Urbino. 68 

Urie. 410 

Ursinus. 553 

Ushant. 290 

Usher. 514 

Utica. 50 

Utrecht. 288 

Uz. 176 


V. 


Turenne, Marshal ..290, 563 

Turin.84, 175 

Turuham Green. 398 

Turnhurst. 396 

Twelfth Day. 20 

Twickenham .. 154, 204, 380, 

436, 566 

--, Bard & Wasp 

of. 207 

Twilight. 197 

Twins . 191 

Tvburn. 144, 175, 240, 

500 

Tychicus, Saint. 528 

fyndale. 426 


Vaccine Inoculation.18“, 

213, 318 

Vacuna,. 517 

Valdarno. 23 

Valdesso. 380 

Valence. 327 

Valentine’s Day. 58 

Valois. 331 

Valladolid. 189, 192, 213 

Vandervelde. t. 212 

Van Dyke, island of .... 465 

Vanessa. 514 

Van Gaunt. 219 

Vanhomrigh.514 

Van Tromp.66, 211, 337 



















































































INDEX 


605 


Page 

Vati Tromp, the younger .180, 


210 

Varennes. 234 

Vasa, Gustavus . 400 

Vasco de Gama. 193, 264, 497, 

551 

Vatican, the.241, 327 

Vaucluse.121, 278 

Vaughan, Sir T. 222 

Venables. 172 

Venice. 327 

Ventriloquist. 270 

Venus, transit of.. .. 212, 501 

Venusium. 528 

Vernal Equinox. 97 

Vernon, Admiral .... 98, 456 

-, Mount. 160 

Verona. 334 

Versailles.. 180, 335, 354, 544 

Virtue,George. 287 

Verulum. 234 

Vespers. 104 

Vesputius. 189 

Vesta.103, 217, 516 

Vestalia. 217 

Vesuvius ..102, 333, 436, 502 

Victor Amadeus II. 457 

-, Marshal. 292 

Victory Man of War .... 413 

Vida. 129 

Vienna.. .. 126, 375, 439, 511 

Vigo. 419 

Villaneuva. 449 

Villaret-Joyeuse. 210 

Villa Viciosa. 486 

Villeneuve, Admiral .... 441 

Villeroy, Marshal. 46 

Villiers. See Buckingham. 

Vimiera . 330 

Vincennes.46, 202, 347 

Vincent, Cape St...29,59, 224 

-, Earl St. See Jervis. 

Virgil.424, 529 

Virgin Mary ..... 47, 99, 321 

Virgo. 333 

Vittoria. 232 

Volcano . 333 

Voltaire. 206 

Voorhout. 390 

Vulgate. 403 


W. 

Page 


Wade. 322 

Wainfleet. 407 

Wakefield.460, 567 

-, Gilbert....67, 371 

Wales, Princess of. 187 

Walker, Adam. 57 

-, George, F.R.S... 146 

— , John .......... 300 

-, Rev. Mr. ... 145, 247 

Wall, Joseph . 41 

Wallace .284, 334, 374 

Waller, the poet. 440 

Walpole, Horace........ 79 

Waipole, Sir Robert .. . ib. 

Walsingham. 121 

Waltham Abbey Church.. 420 

-, Little. 219 

Walthamstow. 52 

Walton, Dr. 462 

Wandsworth . 139 

Wantage. 451, 517 

Wapping. 104 

Warbeck, Perkin.500 

Warburton, Bishop.. 205, 216 

Ward . 184 

Ware . 379 

Warenne, Earl . 513 

Warhain. 187 

Warren, Sir J. B. 419 

Warrington. 347 

Warsaw .. 46, 185, 415, 478 

Warton, Dr. 70 

-, Thomas.... 71, 135 

Warwick, Earl of .. 82, 130 


Washington, city of.. 39, 160, 

335, 436 

-, General, 159, 436, 


539 

Wassail. 20 

Waterloo. 228 

-Bridge .. 147, 228 

Waters. 184 

Watfield. 505 

Watson, Bishop. 250 

Watt, James . 31 

Watts, Dr.503 

Wat Tyler. 221 

Weare. 124 

Weaver, John. 75 



















































































606 


INDEX 


Page 

Wedderburn. 42 

Wednesday. 6 

Wedgwood. 16 

Week. 2 

Weil. 559 

Wellesley. See Wellington. 
Wellington, Duke of, 228, 232 
269, 292, 330 

Wells . 505 

Welwyn . 128 

Wem . 136 

Wentworth. 508 

Wesley, John. 79 

West, the painter.... 85, 347 

-, Dr. 100, 506 

Westall. 556 

Westbury. 2 77 

Westerham.14, 135 

Westmacott. 80 

Westminster, 12, 28, 29, 32, 
47, 54, 59, 60, 71, 94, 96, 
102, 127, 131, 147, 156, 184, 
198,217,225,226,240, 243, 
255,258, 259, 276,280, 287, 
298,300,307,327,347, 362, 
365,381,389,394,441,443, 
455,456,458,479,490, 535, 
541, 557 

Weston Favell. 555 

West Wycombe . 566 

Weybridge . 178 

Wheatley. 447 

Whig. 475 

Whiston. 332 

Whitby, the commentator 99 

White Friars . 343 

-, Dr. 193 

-, Henry Kirke .... 436 

Whitehall. 52 

Whitfield, Rev. G. 408 

Whitehead, Paul. 566 

Whitsand Bay. 500 

Whittington. 487 

Wickham (Hants). 70 

- (Kent) . 100 

- (West) . 566 

Wild Boy. 67 

Wilkes, John. 137, 561 

William I. of the Nether¬ 
lands. 489 


Page 

William the Conqueror .. 12, 

370, 420 

- II. 301, 394 

- III... 58, 59, 83, 127, 

184,247, 293, 475, 543 

-1., Prince of Orange 266 

- V., Prince of 

Orange. 28, 487 

-, son of Henry I. 413, 

504 

- the Lion . 521 

Williams, Dr. 187 

Willoughby, Sir H. 190 

Wilmot, Earl of Rochester 288 

Wilson. 486 

-, Bishop. 82 

-, Captain ... 313, 560 

-, the painter. 181 

Wimborne . 381 

Winchester 279, 301, 407, 451, 

466 

Windsor, 40,43, 54, 148,465, 
492, 495, 525 


Winifred. 215 

Winnington. 488 

Winstanley. 505 

Winter. 570 

Winter Quarter. 548 

Wirtemberg, Duke of.... 187 
Wise Men, the Seven.... 9 

Wishart. 199 

Wittemberg. 60, 66 

Woburn . 80 

Wodin or Odin . 7 

Wokingham. 560 

Wolfe, General.14, 376 

Wolstoncraft . 371 

Wolsey, Cardinal .. 226, 432, 

438, 507 

Women.358, 359 

Woodcock, Captain. 532 

-, Elizabeth.... 47 

Wood fall. 300 

Woodstock. 288 

Woollett, the engraver .. 423 

Woolstrope. 96 

Worcester, 154, 243, 300,360, 

419, 434 

Workington. 194 


World, creation of the .. 

















































































INDEX 


607 


Page 

VVorsley . 84 

Worthiug. 289 

Worthington, Rev. H. .. ib. 

Wotton. 73 

Wotton-under-Edge, 349, 387 
Wren, Sir C.... 72, 162 232 

Wrexham. 285 

Wright, the painter .... 346 

Wrington . 452 

Writing.17, 127 


Page 


Yearsley, Mrs.494 

York, Cardinal . 565 

-, Duchess of . 178 

-, Duke of. ib. 

-, afterwards 

James II. 212 

York, Richard, Duke of.. 567 

-, New. ib. 

-, Town.131, 436 

Young, Arthur. 66 

-, Dr. 128 


X. 


Xantippe. 191 

Xenocrates. 278 

Xenophon. 431 

Xerxes. 438 

Ximenes, Cardinal. 477 

Y. 

Yale. 285 

Yalden, Thomas. 477 

Yassy . 425 

Yates, Dr. 268 

Year.8, 570 


Z. 


Zacharias. 


469 

Zanches . 


116 

Zastrow, General. 


408 

Zela. 


279 

Zell . 

• 

• 

C* 

CO 

180 

Zimmermann .. .. 


413 

Zinzendorf, Count 


218 

Zubof . 


98 

Zuinglius. 


417 

Zuilburg. 


379 

Zurich .. 

15, 79, 

94 

Zutphen . 


426 


END. 


I 


G. SMALLFIEI.D, PRINTER, HACKNEY 































































. .: Vt 










1 S& 
























l** vV * '■ 

•>» 'Vv •- 


* ,™ nxv) - , 

v ,•* 

♦ % A* '■ 

1 ''•>'»' v ,' y* 

, *s3i— es* » .V.*. *? ■• 

** % 

C> ■<*',»' <> V ^ * A' 

••♦ ^o 4*^* ^ C° ‘ ,M 

, $£ > ^ ~ ^h» r$ ° 

■ 1 ■'■ * 





• # 1 


• ’ J> V '• 
. 0 ^ >•" % +> 



« p<> 

/ ^ *r*^T*’ n v I 

A» O. * 9 § %* aP 

\V ^ rv» .» • 



• ^ i% 

«* %£* <^ * 
Vi>** 


o 

• A V -^ *“ 

. * 9 « ..,. .»»,.* . V *« 

<f> *0 » t, * .0 T 




•‘ <?> 

•••' ^’.....'V' "y % '*" v'V. 

*, v ,VWa’» ^ /?■ * tSUSSl • ti. ^ • “* 

-HeUI* '^>v > .JjlrSfe- v-0^ ; 

b^VV AV y. oH/CllsAr* ^ ’^-> • 

% vfvf* a *«.*<-••* a° ; ‘ 

0 • * * ,V , v'* 4 ^ „0 V 0 0 " • ♦ O 

** "S, ^ % *^s5vV^ # . O 



’•/■'* aP «> * 

<<T 4» *1% "> 





o <j5 ^ , 

^ •'^VIVYCS^P ' V ~ ' 

^ ofr °o 

• " ° Vv _. 

• ^ A^ 0 ‘‘ 

* V & ' 


* \/ ’’■' 

/? vf* 

* <f? ' J ^> ♦ 

' y V* 

q|v e o * • ^ r ^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proceJ 
C V ~ Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 

* Treatment Date: APR 200: 


* <0 

O . 

* «.K o . 

••-•“ y .. <V. * 



; PreservationTechnologie 




% * A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATII 

» , \ * A v 111 Thomson Park Drive 

0 * Cranberry Township. PA 16066 

(724) 779-2111 




c <y ««*♦. % 

o o 5 ^ *° ^ 

* CL* O * t <s/M‘^\* ! O A * -.- 

••••>* °* *'•’• f° V'*.i.- .*■ 

V _*L 9 *0 cv ,0 *»*•'♦ *!> V s . 

A v *J$\W/}h 0 <£ *VS|feSf* <£, »-' 

■* ^ Y^v/^^vww % ,.^> vP 



*</> 

► «/\ 


^ -NB 5 *V * 

* - • * **b A V . t»# „ 

% ° a* .* - 
* *b v 4 .' 



o'ty* <£? • $ 4 / 

<v> *°• *■ * A Cv ** 

t.° m * * ^c 
0 • v> 

*> 


ip VV 

^o 4 tt. - 
# « <0 <#* * 

* > * * A ' 




■\A '<v*^ T, V 

v *:/•• c* ,o ** 

•% *& 4 Va’' %. A A 


* w ^ * 

* «V 9^ - 




A - <>, **•• • % A 

r CT o^lf* ^O .A % .*'*4 ^ 

♦7 0 *«kSS55w% o d *► SaF'jrfc** **L 

**o« *'<Sra "ok J 


> » © 




•* A % / \ % w y 

. ** % c / »£fr’ ^ A* /*< 

~ *' • 8 * <> ’'o*** A 0 * ^o *, 

*V «»•'*- <£. O" a © * * ♦ V> 



* Cp ” r\ 

* • 

y* * 



V v» ..... jr 

<.<? .>v*. v a* , k <*. 





